


I need your assistance

by puppy_on_crack



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: BAMF Tony, Eventual Smut, Humor, Loki Needs a Hug, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Past Relationship(s), Tony Stark Needs a Hug, disguises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-10
Updated: 2015-06-15
Packaged: 2018-04-03 19:30:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 49,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4112380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puppy_on_crack/pseuds/puppy_on_crack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki Is brought to Tony, injured and abused, by Heimdall. Asked to take care of him, Tony accepts. After all, he has nothing to do now that Pepper left him. What are you supposed to do with an injured Norse god? Make him your assistant of course! eventual Tony/Loki. A tiny bit of Clint captain America bashing. Smut near the end.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have already posted this story to its completion on ff.net. Go ahead and read it there if that is your dying wish. This one has been SLIGHTLY re-edited. So it will have less mistakes than the one on FF.net I will post here as often as I feel like it, but it will likely be posted completely within a month.
> 
> Caio! I'm off to see if I can sneak a kitten into my house.....

Tony Stark was in his mess of a lab lamenting over a half finished version of a new blaster. Then man was surrounded by empty take-away boxes and a multitude of equipment no normal person would know what to do with. Tony had been down here for a little over a week with only quick trips to the bathroom. He even slept on the work table, the few times he actually fell asleep.

Normally three days ago he would have been dragged out, showered and fed by an angry Pepper but that wasn’t going to happen now. The woman, for that’s all Tony would call her now, left him seven weeks ago. She had once promised him that she would love him forever despite all his flaws. That turned out to be a lie because she handed in her resignation along with breaking up with him claiming she could not deal anymore with his problems.

So Tony stayed in his lab alone. No more did he have an assistant or CEO. He didn’t really care about the CEO position thing, the board of trustees would place one in and JARVIS would judge whether or not they were good for the company.  But Tony missed the company. He quickly realized that he had no friends to speak of, including the Avengers. Well that excludes Bruce but the man refused his constant invitation to fly him back from India so they could catch up.

Tony spent a lot of time thinking of what had happened in the war. What he had done and what others had done. Particularly what they're attempted dictator tried to do. After a lot of thinking he realized that he really didn’t hate Loki for what he had done. After all he knew his brother and he knew what it was like to have a father that didn’t care for you as a son. Tony thought back to all the times where he thought of trying to take over the world. He knew he could do it and Ton admitted to himself that if he had a race of aliens behind him he probably would’ve tried the same.

He also realized that Loki was not even trying hard to win the war. He analyzed every piece of footage they had of Loki in those battles. He noticed that Loki never tried to run away when he could. He saw how the demigod would pull his punches on everything that wasn’t the group of super heroes. He also found a rare video that showed him protecting a group of people from the aliens.

So in his dungeon of a lab Tony sat alone and decided that he did not hate Loki. He decided that if the man ever came back he would try to talk to him instead of blasting him again. It was actually this thought he was having when there was a bright flash of light in the corner of his lab.

“What the hell?! JARVIS, lock down!” Tony shouted, picking up his personal blaster and approaching. He saw two figures, one standing proud while the other was slumped as if they were dead.  “Who are you? Why are you here?” Tony shouted as the dust settled.

“Anthony Stark.” A voice grumbled. Out of the shadow the tall standing man walked out and Tony immediately noticed the Asgardian armor.

“Yes?” Tony answered hesitantly.

“I am Heimdall. I have come to ask you for your assistance.” The man, Heimdall, spoke in a deep voice. Tony heaved a deep sigh. He was quite tired of people asking for his “assistance”.

“What do you want?” Tony asked, slightly lowering the blaster.

“I wish to ask for your assistance with him.” Heimdall said, stepping aside to show an unconscious, severely beaten Loki. The man was so covered in bruises that, if Tony hadn't known better, it looked like he was naturally purple in color. He wasnt moving and for a moment Tony thought he may be dead. Tony immediately dropped his weapon and went over to the prostrate body. He placed his hand on the war criminals neck, sighing slightly as he felt a pulse. Without a word or a thought he lifted the limp body and carried him upstairs. He lead Heimdall to a spare bedroom and laid Loki onto the sheets, not caring that it was going to stain the sheets with blood.

“What happened?” Tony asked. Heimdall started a little but smiled.

“Yes I knew you were the right choice.”

“What do you mean, right choice?” Tony questioned.

“You are the only person in the universe that would not look at this boy and leave him to die.” Heimdall explained. “I needed to find someone who would actually care for him as a person and you are the only one who could do such a thing.” Tony scoffed at the man.

“Well you obviously have bad judgment. Ask anyone, I don’t care for anything but myself.” Tony sneered.

“And yet, without thought you gave a man who tried to kill you a bed. Even your Captain of America would not have done that.” Heimdall explained lightly. Tony froze for a moment when he thought about it. Surely Steve wouldn’t have hurt him, but he would have not given him any comfort. “Anthony Stark, you are the only creature that has spoken a nice word about Loki since the disaster. That is why I brought him to you for help.”

“Spoken?”

“Who speak aloud when you are alone. I can see everything. I saw you forgive him for what he has done.”

“So what happened here?” Tony gestured at the broken body. There was a lot of blood and grime covering his body. A glanced showed him that there were no open wounds or bones that were currently broken. But there were many scars that were easily seen through the few threads of clothing that was left on him. His ribs stuck out dangerously, as if he hadn’t eaten in the months since he left Earth.

“His father decided his punishment and it was carried out with too much glee and excitement. Loki was supposed to be locked in the dungeon for three human lifetimes with simple food and no comfort. Instead the guards beat him continuously. Instead of simple food he was given none. Before I brought him to you, he was nearly dead. I healed him as much as I could but I am not the sorcerer he is.” Heimdall sighed and glanced over to the still unconscious body.

“So I guess that this vacation from the prison was not sanctioned by the king?” Tony snarked. “You want me to hide an escaped convict who is not only going to be hunted by the other Asgardians but will be sentenced to death if he is found here on Earth.”

“If I had another choice I would not be here. As I said, other than myself you are the only other person in many worlds who has a kind disposition of thought towards him. Please help him.” Tony thought about it for a moment. Well truth be told, he really didn’t think about accepting. He knew in his mind that he would. People may claim him heartless but Tony was not. He was thinking about how this would work.

“I cannot protect him by myself from both worlds.”

“No you cannot. I will protect him from Asgard by blocking his magic. Right now he is drained of his magic but it will come back. Slowly.  Soon though he will be able to cast spells that will change his appearance enough to be safe. After that it would just be up to you to stop him from getting recognized.” Heimdall spoke softly. “You  do not need to do much. Just give him a place to stay until he is healed. As long as he is no longer in that prison.”

“Fine.” Tony said quietly. “I will help him.”

“Thank you Anthony Stark.” And with that the man was gone, leaving Tony alone with the unconscious demigod. Tony sighed as he realized what he had just gotten himself into. Harboring an intergalactic criminal who happens to have tried to kill him more than once.

“Jarvis?”

“Yes sir.” The computer immediately responded.

“Run a diagnostic. I want to see all of his injuries and how bad they are. Also order me some smelling salts and food.” Tony ordered.

“Of course sir. Would you like me to order from your usual fast food places or from the grocery store?” JARVIS said in a snooty tone. The computer had said on many occasions that Tony should eat better.

“Some of both. A lot of take away for when he wakes up but stock up the kitchen as well. I am going to get a drink tell me if anything changes with him or when the stuff has arrived.” Tony said before walking out of the room, leaving Loki on the bed to rest comfortably.

After taking a few shots of good scotch Tony stayed down in his lab until the food and goods arrived. After storing the groceries and leaving the many pizzas, Tony had no idea what compelled JARVIS to order seven of them, on the counter he returned to the room. Loki had not moved yet on the bad.

“Jarvis. Your diagnostic.”

“Of course sir. It seems that Mr. Loki’s largest problem is extreme malnutrition. Other than that it seems all other injuries are well on their way to healing. There are fifty lacerations to account for. Twenty third degree burns. And finally there were seven different broken bones. However they have all been mostly healed.”

“Thank you Jarvis.” Tony sighed and reached for the smelling salts. He knew this was going to be bad but he held the salts under Loki’s pointed nose. With a jolt the man awoke, grimacing when he felt pain.

In a second all the drowsiness left the demigod and with a startled expression he scrambled off the bed and into a corner. With fearful eyes he stared at Tony, his arms wrapped protectively around his legs.

“Where am I!?” He shouted, a manic fright coloring his voice.

“Well good morning sleeping beauty.” Tony mumbled under his voice. “You are safe Loki. You are at my house. In Malibu.” He said loud enough for the other man to hear. That didn’t stop the shivering from the petrified sorcerer.

“Why am I here? Am I being punished more?”

“What? NO! Listen Loki. Your friend Heimdall brought you here. He rescued you and brought you to me to keep you safe.” Tony explained in a rush. Loki hugged himself tighter but he did seem to stop shaking.

“Why? Why would you help me?” He asked in a hushed voice, his dirty black hair covering his face.

“That is a question that I have been asking myself.” There was a silence as they both took the statement in. It was many minutes before Loki uncurled himself and looked up, even if his gaze was still frightened. Tony sighed when he realized just how damaged this once proud person is now. A year ago Loki would have just sneered at him and maybe even spit on him for good measure. Instead he was cowering in the corner like a kicked puppy.

“Come on then.” Tony motioned him to stand. Loki hesitated for a second but stood anyway.

“Where are we going?” He asked in a shy voice.

“To the bathroom. You look like you could use a bath. Maybe after a soak you will be able to calm down and we will talk about what has happened.” Tony explained leading him out of the bedroom and into his own personal master bath. Tony had always been quite the lover of baths. So in his giant bathroom there was a tub that could easily fit five people. There were specialized jets and the entire tub was heated so the water never went cold. When they entered JARVIS automatically turned on the bath.

“I will be right down the hall if you need anything. Take all the time you need.” Tony said quickly before leaving the bathroom. He flopped down on the giant couch in the living room.

“Sir?” The mechanized voice interrupted his thoughts on Loki.

“Yes Jarvis?”

“I hope you do not mind but I took the liberty of ordering clothes that would fit Mr. Loki and had them delivered right outside the bathroom. They will be here shortly. I also put on back order an entire wardrobe if it pleases you I can move up the order.”

“That’s perfect Jarvis. What would I do without you?”

“Perish.”


	2. Chapter 2

Loki sat in shock as he soaked in the giant tub of Tony Stark’s bathroom. He tried to make sense of everything that had just happened as he watched the blood and grime slip off his skin and swirl in the water. The last thing he had known was the guards having their fun. They had locked him in his chains and were taking turns to see who could make him scream the loudest. He remembered passing out. Then he wakes up in the warm comfort of the house of his enemy. His enemy, who had yet to do anything cruel to him. Who offered him sanctuary and a bath and a bed.

Loki dipped his head below the water and scrubbed at his hair. There were no comforts of baths in those dungeons. When you started to smell the guards would throw a cold bucket of soapy water over your head and that was it. Even if this luxury was only a dream or a cruel joke, he was going to enjoy it while he could.

Loki spent over an hour in the tub, scrubbing his skin until it was pink and his hair was finally back to its shiny black. With a reluctant sigh he climbed out of the bath and grabbed a fluffy towel that was warm to the touch. He wrapped it around his waist and walked into the bedroom. After a glance around he could not find his clothes. Suddenly he jumped with a girly yelp as a voice spoke from the ceiling.

“Mr. Loki I have taken the liberty of throwing away your old clothes. As you can see there are clothes on the bed for you.” The mechanical voice called.

“Who are you?” Loki demanded, even if it was more timidly than he would have preferred.

“I am Jarvis. Mr. Starks AI.”

“Artificial Intelligence?” Loki said in wonder.

“That is correct sir.” Loki shook his head. Even with his time on this planet he still did not understand Midgardian technology. But he knew what AI was. He glanced over to the clothes on the bed. There was a soft cotton shirt and a light gray sweat shirt that fit his upper torso perfectly. Then there was a pair of sweats that were not only comfortable, but warm.

“Sir, when you are done changing you can join Mr. Stark in the kitchen for dinner.” The voice ripped him away from the appreciation of his clothing. Loki nodded and walked slowly to the kitchen, using the mechanical voice as his guide. When he entered the room he saw Stark at the table hunched over a tablet. The man was obviously freshly showered as his hair was still wet and he was wearing new clothes that weren’t stained with grease and ketchup.

“Loki. You are here. Sit down.” Tony said, pointing to a chair. Loki followed the order immediately, not wanting to anger the host of all these gifts. Not seconds after he sat a plate piled with three  pieces of pizza was placed in front of him.

“Dude you are seriously skinny. There is nothing better than pizza to put on weight. And don’t worry about eating too much, my stupid computer bought seven of them.” Tony said in a light voice. It took less than a minute for Loki’s self control to break and allow him to devour his food without manners. Tony smiled into his pizza as he watched the emaciated man chomp his way through three pizzas. He knew Asgardians ate a lot but Loki looked like he could out eat his brother, and that is saying something. Still he got a little rush of joy as he watched him eat. Tony had always loved giving gifts. Showering people with the things they want or need. Most people thought it was his way of showing off, which he will admit it kind of is, but the most joy he gets is when he can use his money to make those he likes happy.

It was a long while but both men finally stopped eating and that’s when Tony decided that they needed to talk.

“Hey Loki.” He started out nervously. The man looked up in a moment of panic at the tone of voice.

“Y-yes?”

“We have to talk about some of your living arrangements here.” Tiny was slightly startled at the distraught look on the other man’s face. “No! It’s nothing bad I promise you.”

“Alright.” Loki mumbled.

“Well as you have probably figured out, people here still don’t like you. So the main thing we are going to have to do is hide you until you get enough magic that you can change your appearance. That means that you are going to be confined to the house until that happens. After that then we can think of a cover that would allow you to stay by me when you can change your looks.

“Also when I have guests you have to stay in your room. There will be plenty of stuff to do in there so you won’t get bored but we cannot chance you getting found. Especially by Shield or your brother.” Tony watched as Loki flinched at the mention of his brother. Still the demigod nodded in agreement to the terms.

“Luckily my friends have pretty much abandoned me after Pepper left so the chances of anyone coming over to visit is going to be very rare. Other than that you have full access to the house . . . other than my labs because you might blow yourself up in there. Lord knows I have many times.” Tony chuckled at his little joke. Loki smiled a little at that.

“There we go Reindeer Games! Finally cracked a smile. I’ll have you know that I am very funny. I was insulted that that you hadn’t smiled yet.” Tony said flippantly, easily reverting to his usual flamboyant self.

“Now we have had a long day, so I say we go watch a movie on the big screen and turn off our brains for a little while.” Loki held back a smart comment, not yet knowing how much he could get away with here. So he just nodded and followed Tony into the living room, curling up in a corner of the bed-like couch. Tony mused over a large selection of movies finally selecting an action movie with a lot of car chases and funny on-liners during the big fights. He flopped heavily on the couch.

An hour later both men were enthralled with a movie. A ridiculously large bowl of popcorn appeared between them along with a couple of two liters. Loki watched in amusement as Tony shouted at the television, admonishing the actors for nearly everything they did. It still surprised him that this man had accepted him so easily. Even before all his mistakes his own family was not comfortable around him and it took Stark less than five hours to let down all his guard and relax around him. He had quietly wondered why Heimdall would leave him here, of all places. Tony’s easy acceptance showed why he had.

Tony knew that Loki was watching him. It was obvious that Loki was waiting for the other boot to drop. Waiting for Tony to get mad and strike out at him or to throw him to the streets. Tony still didn’t know why he didn’t. Anyone else would. Though Tony Stark was not everyone else.

By the time the movie was over Loki had fallen asleep on the couch, the events of the day catching up with him finally. Tony picked him up and carried him to the bed. When he shut the door he was smiling. It felt good to be able to be around someone. After Peppers abandonment and the revelation about his lack of friends Tony had felt lonely. To be able to address another person, even though they remain quiet and rarely answered back, was exhilarating.

“JARVIS.” Tony called.

“Yes sir?”

“I am going down to the labs for the night. If Loki wakes up or has a problem please call me.”

“Of course sir.”

Hours later Tony was still in his labs working on the blaster he never really finished.

“Holy shitting fuck!” Tony shouted as he burned his finger on the still hot metal of the welding tools. He cursed under his breath as he looked for the bottle of burn ointment he kept at his desk at all times. He moaned in relief as the gel took away the burn and he was able to wrap up his finger.

“Sir?”

“What Jarvis!”Tony bit out angrily.

“It seems Mr. Loki is having a nightmare. You asked me to tell you when something was happening to him.” The AI spoke a little bitter sounding at Tony’s tone of voice.

“Fine!” Tony said, running upstairs to the guest room he had given Loki. From outside the door he could hear the screaming. He cursed lightly before swinging the door wide open. One the bed Loki was tangled in his sheets tossing and turning while screaming bloody murder.

“No . . . Stop. . . Please, god STOP!” The poor man yelled, tears falling from the closed eyes.

“Loki!” Tony shouted, trying to wake the man up. It didn’t work so he ran over to the bed and placed his hands on Loki’s shoulders, trying to get him to stop struggling.

“NO! DON’T! . . . Father . . . NO!” The sorcerer yelped and tried to struggle away.

“Loki please stop!” Tony pleaded. Still he thrashed and whimpered and cried. After five minutes of struggling Tony decided that this was not working. In a quick motion he turned the struggling man around and hugged him to his chest. He felt the long scarred back press against the machinery in his chest. He wrapped his legs around the flailing ones of the demigod. After a few long minutes the other man began to calm down.

The screams calmed to whimpers and the tears finally stopped. Tony sat in the bed holding the broken man. In the end all it did was make him mad. To think that a father would subject his child to something so horrific that he would have this reaction made him sick to his stomach. If he had any doubts about helping Loki, he certainly did not have them anymore.

Tony stayed until all movement from Loki stopped and he was quietly snoring. After Tony shuffled to his bed and laid down. He didn’t know how to help Loki. Sure he had been through something similar. The cave and the terrorist were still large players in his nightmares. And considering his own childhood. . .  But Tony did not handle his mental strain well. Throwing himself into vigilantism and hero work. Destroying every relationship he could have. Often drinking himself into a coma so there was no possible way that he could have his nightmares.

Tony decided that he didn’t want to think about it right now. In his mind he knew that he would eventually get the other man to talk. Share what had happened to him. He had only got a short version from Heimdall and based on the injury count a lot more had happened.


	3. Chapter 3

When Loki woke up he realized there was someone else in his bed. It unbalanced him. No one had been in his bed for many years now, not after the rumors of his mischief spread throughout the realms. Loki felt the cool press of metal against his back and that only confused him more. As he turned over he groaned in pain. It was not the sharp agonizing pain that he had felt before, now it was dull and throbbing. When he finally made it all the way around he stared at the bearded face that had been pressed against this back and sighed in happiness. It was not a dream then. He had really been saved by the Man of Iron.

"I know I'm beautiful but there is no need to stare." Came a low grumble and Loki looked to see Tony eyes open, staring right back at him.

"Sorry." Loki mumbled. Tony stretched like a cat, elongating his shorter body until it took up most of the bed.

"No need to be. I'm actually content. This is the first time I've been able to wake up next to a man and not end up in some sort of screaming match." Tony flashed a winning smile and relaxed against the pillows again.

"You have slept with other men?" Loki asked with a raised eyebrow.

"On occasion. I stopped for a while because every morning ended with a sexual identity crisis from my partner or The Woman yelling at me for being reckless." Loki hummed at the statement.

"I thought humans were against men having relations with each other. All the other times I have been here it has been a taboo worthy of death."

"Times change Reindeer Games. Its still a taboo in many people's eyes. Though the law has changed it so that it is no longer illegal and many people accept it now." Tony grunted as he stood up from the bed. "Alright, time for breakfast. We need to put some meat on your bones." Tony yanked Loki out of bed, softly as to not disturb his injuries. He pulled him along to the kitchen. Both, it seemed, had decided not to talk about why they had ended up in bed together. Tony was not eager to mention the nightmares and Loki did not want to risk it never happening again. Sure he was not sexually involved with the Man of Iron, but it had been so long that someone was willing to make casual contact with him that if Stark was going to crawl into bed with him he would not say no.

"Let's go get something to eat. Then we can discuss a few things. I had a vision in my dream!" Tony shouted joyously before bolting out of the bed. Loki sat stunned for a moment. Sometimes Stark had as much infernal energy as his brother. He clambered slowly out of bed and followed JARVIS's directions to the kitchen.

On the black marble of the enormous counter there was a feast of fruits, French baguettes (that were shipped this morning from France), thin slices of meat and large bowls of yogurt. Tony was perched on a chair on the opposite of the table and motioned for Loki to sit on the other side.

"I know your brother loves all the fattening and sugary crap America has to offer. However, I have been informed by JARVIS that you probably do not."

"Thank you." Loki said, slipping into his chair with his head bowed. Tony waved it away impatiently before reaching for a platter of meats

"No need. JARVIS has been trying to make me eat like this for years. Since The Woman is gone I should try and start taking care of myself. Not that I won't indulge when I want to, after all, I am Tony Stark." Tony popped a piece of salami in his mouth as he watch Loki cautiously reach for a plate and begin loading it with food. He smiled when there was less hesitation grabbing than when he was going for the pizza.

"The woman?" Loki asked. He said so shyly, making Tony a bit angry. It seemed that Loki was not yet comfortable around him. Still, it had only been a day and a half since he woke. It would probably take a while before the snark came back.

"Yeah. I forgot you didn't know about her. Most of the world knows about her. She was my personal assistant for years, the CEO of my company as well and she was my lover for about as long. We had been dating on and off for about five years. We had a lot of arguments and she was always trying to change me. Still, I loved her and did the best I could. Not long after we sent you back she decided that she didn't love me anymore. That she could do better than a 'narcissistic alcoholic ass'." Tony crinkled his nose in disgust. He looked at Loki when the god snorted.

"The fool." Tony smiled as a flash of the arrogant megalomaniac came back.

"Hmm? You think so?" Tony hummed, laying his chin on laced fingers.

"Any person would be foolish to think they could do better than you, lest they were looking for a god." Loki sneered.

"Most people would disagree with you. In fact the whole world roared in approval when she announced that she was resigning." There was a little bitterness in his tone, though Tony had no idea why he even tried to hide it.

"Then they are wrong too. Putting aside the fact that you could provide a person everything they want twenty times over and will likely sire intelligent, successful offspring; you have good qualities of a provider. You have a fierce loyalty to those who you care about, even the smallest amount. You are unshakeable in your morals, even if they do not fully align with the standards of the world. You have a deep desire to make people happy, even if it means distracting them from their pain by making a fool of yourself. Finally you are willing to change to make those around you happy. All those are qualities you wouldn't even find in the best of the gods." Loki finished with his tone superior, begging Tony to challenge what he said.

"Wow…. Just . . . wow." Tony was stunned. He was no fool and knew that most of what Loki had said, he himself had already realized. How was it that a being from a different realm (Tony refused to acknowledge him as a god. He was an alien) was able to see these things from a few choice encounters while The Woman and everyone else had never realized?

"You are surprised I know?" Loki asked a little shrewdly.

"Well when your brother came to earth he didn't know how to use a toaster." Tony said as if it were the answer to the question.

"I am not as simple as Thor." Loki sneered again.

"No I think Thor's simple-ness is one of his godly powers." Tony quipped, causing Loki to smirk.

"When I came to this realm I immediately began gathering information. I used the hawk to find out what forces would be used against me and their weaknesses. Of course he immediately told me about the Avenger plan. Told me that even though it had been discarded that his boss would try anything to revive it." Loki folded his fingers and placed them under his chin. "So many interesting people with wonderful powers and yet the most interesting one of them happened to be the one named Stark."

"Thank you!"

"That wasn't necessarily a compliment."Loki popped a grape in his mouth. Tony realized that he had been so engrossed with talking that he forgot to eat. "Out of all the men the hawk mentioned there was not one word of good about you. Even your accomplishments came with disdain from the man. Interested I looked around and saw that this notion was almost universal in the world of the powerful. Yet, to the common man, you were regarded as a benevolent god. Interesting. So you were the only one that I desired to meet. When I saw you I knew you would be the one that was a challenge. The wild card. Indeed you were, to think that you would fly in a worm hole at risk of your own life. Not a very narcissistic thing."

Tony smiled. It seemed like he was doing that a lot around Loki. Then again, it has been the first time he talked to anybody that wasn't JARVIS in about a month. Not knowing what to say, Tony nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"If you're done follow me to the bathroom so I can explain my epiphany to you." Tony said with a laugh before sprinting off to the bathroom. Loki followed at a more leisurely pace, glancing around as he went. He marveled at the house. The only it could look more sophisticated would be if it had been done in all gold, like on Asgard. Which Loki knew Stark could probably do.

In the bathroom Tony stood behind a chair. On the counter was an array of oddly shaped bottles and scissors. Slowly Loki made his way to the chair, settling into it softly. He flinched when a towel was suddenly wrapped around his neck.

"Darling what a mess! We absolutely must do something with that hair!" Tony lisped in his 'gay hairdresser' voice. Loki looked confused. "Sorry, I forgot that you wont get all my jokes. I'm going to do your hair. SHEILD hasn't been here for nearly three months, meaning within the next few weeks they are going to come barging in here." Tony explained, reaching for the scissors.

"So, I thought that we needed an excuse for you living in my house. Since The Woman has left I have been in the market for a new assistant. My new assistant will be you." Tony explained, grabbing a spray bottle, checked the label (just in case), and began to wet down Loki's hair. "First though, we need to make you unrecognizable. So I'm going to cut and dye your hair. When you get your magic back you will be able to change it back but for now this will have to do. I also got you colored contacts so that we can change those pretty eyes of yours."

"Assistant?" Loki asked. The hair and eyes thing made sense, even if he was worried letting Stark do the cutting. The assistant thing worried him though. From his knowledge that meant a lot of contact with the outside world and that would be a struggle.

"Well a different type of assistant from normal. Which having the abnormal is normal for me, so people won't question me. Your "job" will be to make sure I stay healthy and arrive place. Mostly making sure I eat, sleep, bathe and show up. Or at least that is what we will tell people. You don't have to do that if you don't want to." Tony explained as he began cutting. Long tendrils of black hair fell to the floor. Tony spent last night studying how to cut hair, of which he was now an expert. He had even gotten Jarvis to get some fake heads to practice on. Loki sat silently, watching the progress of the hair falling away. He disliked the smell of dye and hated the way 'bleach' made his scalp itch.

The rest of the makeover they discussed the disguise. They agreed on the name Luke, because it was close to Loki and easier for Tony to remember. As they talked about a back story the hair kept getting shorter and shorter. Soon the scraps were brushed away by dummy (with a lot of cursing from Tony as he got hit with the broom a couple of times) and the dye had been applied.

Tony, always having to be dramatic, did not let Loki see his hair until after his hair had been dried, styled and the contacts were in place. With a flourish the chair was spun around with a 'Ta-da' from Stark. He was blonde. Well, not completely. His hair was so light it may as well been white, but there were green at the tips of his hair. The style had been cut short with large bangs and many layers, making it stick up as though it had been ruffled by a hundred pair of hands. His eyes were a light blue and looked incredibly large. Over all Loki didn't  _dislike_  the look, but it was quite different from his dark looks.

"Isn't this a bit unprofessional for an assistant?" Loki asked, running his fingers through his bangs. He examined his green tips. Looking up he saw Tony smiling in the mirror.

"Well I figured that people would be talking about that more than they would how much you resemble the megalomaniac that tied to exterminate the world. Do you like it?" Tony acked excitedly.

"Yeah . . . I like it."


	4. Chapter 4

Three weeks later found Loki showering and thinking of Stark. Not in a perverted way, but the thought had crossed his mind. Loki was surprised how comfortable he had become around the man. For the last three weeks the man has been plastered to his side (once quite literally when an experiment had failed and glued to together for two days). They watched thousands of movies, or so it seemed. Tony was instructing him in all parts of human society. Politics, current events, gossip, world government and history.

When Stark wasn’t teaching him that they both sat in the lab. Tony would work on whatever project he had decided to do while Loki would read. Stark mumbled as he worked, talking to himself and JARVIS as if Loki wasn’t there. It was comforting. Even though it had been a while Loki was still trying to get over his fear of being alone. He hated the feeling that he might go back to that cell, but with Tony there was no fear of that.

Stark ended up in his bed fairly often. It didn’t take much for Loki to realize that it was because of the nightmares. Neither commented on it though. Loki still relished in the comfort and for once in his life Tony was sleeping semi-regularly. In fact, since Loki came he apparently has been eating and behaving better than he had since he was a teenager. Either way, they had both been very comfortable around each other.

Loki put in his contacts while he hummed; he was wearing them constantly to practice. He was happy that he could act himself even though he didn’t look himself. He strolled out of his room wearing only a towel. Stark told him to be comfortable in his house and Loki promptly told him that he preferred to be nude.

“Oh it must be my lucky day.” Stark had quipped with a salacious smile. He would jokingly check him out every time he walked around with less than normal clothing. It was because he was so comfortable, he supposed, that he just walked into a kitchen full of Avengers in just a towel.

There was a stunned silence as the Avengers stared at the half-nude man strolling through the kitchen. In less than a second Natasha had out her gun, Clint was pointing arrows at him and Fury had a gun of his own.

“Oh… OH!” Loki gasped in surprise. He lifted up his hands in surrender. There were no calls of ‘Loki!’ so he assumed the disguise worked. “Just… just hold on. JARVIS!!!” He yelled at the ceiling, not moving and trying to ignore armed and staring people.

“Yes sir?”

“Can you tell Tony to get his ass up here?”

“Sure.” JARVIS answered quickly.

“What do you want sweet heart?” Tony’s voice rattled from the ceiling. Loki glared at the ceiling. Stark had a thing for pet-names and no amount of slaps to the head would stop him.

“Well _dear._ You have guests and you failed to mention it to me, so I am standing in front of them in a towel. I can’t go and change because they are all pointing their weapons at me.” Loki turned and glared at the stunned superheroes. It was less than thirty seconds before Tony stepped out of the elevator and took in the scene in the kitchen.

“You were telling the truth.” He looked a little stunned. The Avengers looked over at him in surprise. “Guys can you not point your guns at my new assistant? He is the first person who hasn’t run away screaming and I don’t think I would find another like him.” He made a calming motion. The Avengers, well the ones from SHEILD, put down their weapons.

“Who is this Stark?” Fury growled, glaring with one eye. Loki responded with a quirked eyebrow.

“This is Luke. My new assistant. Listen, before we get into this can you let him change?” Tony asked. Loki spun on his heels and quickly walked away. As he turned the corner he let out the breath he had been holding in.

“What the hell was that Stark?” Fury yelled. Tony looked around out his kitchen. Bruce was sitting in a chair with a coffee looking amused. Natasha was watching the hallway suspiciously. Clint was glaring at Tony. Steve looked too stunned to move.

“That would be my new assistant, as I just said. After The Woman left I decided that I need a new assistant. He is in charge of making sure that I eat, sleep and in-general stay healthy. It’s a tough job, and a full time one. So he is living in the mansion with me.” Tony shrugged before grabbing at a bottle of scotch. He got the feeling that he was going to need it, even if it was ten in the morning.

“Pepper left?!” Steve yelped. They all turned to him as he blushed. Tony smirked and laughed.

“Dude I know you were frozen but you need to read a newspaper. It’s been in the news for two months. Yes, she left.”

“Why?”

“Because she didn’t want to deal with me.” Tony answered shortly, before taking a long sip from his glass. Steve looked disapproving but Tony couldn’t tell if it was because of the booze or the thing with The Woman. Tony realized that he didn’t care.

“That doesn’t explain why he was naked in your house.” Natasha piped up, taking a seat near Bruce.

“He wasn’t naked.” Tony pointed out.

“Stark.” Fury growled in a warning.

“Because I told him that as long as he lives in this house he can do as he wishes. If he wants to be semi nude, who am I to say no?” Tony gave a winning smile but Bruce was the only one to smile back. “Bruce-y nice to see you! How was India?”

Just then Loki walked in. There was a silence as they all took him in. He stood tall in his tailored suit (compliments of Tony’s personal tailor).  Despite the punk hair cut he looked very professional. As he strode into the room Natasha stared (Tony did so as well, much more blatantly). Loki went over to Tony and pulled the glass of alcohol out of his hands without much force. They all stared as he poured it down the sink. He strutted over to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of tomato juice, pours a glass and pushed it into Tony’s hands.

“Thanks.” Tony said with a scrunched nose.

“We had a deal. No booze until five o’clock and you get more than three hours in the lab.” Loki pointed out. It’s true that they made that deal. Loki decided that Stark did indeed need a paid babysitter. So he took it upon himself to change a few things.

“Can we include a ‘director Fury’ clause?”

“No.”

“I like him.” Bruce piped up, breaking into the beginning bicker fight. Both looked at him, Tony smiling and Loki in interest.

“Thank you, Mr. Banner.” Loki said quietly.

“Oh, you know me?”

“Yes. Tony has spoken a lot about you . . . about all of you.”

“So you are not sleeping with Stark?” Clint asked bluntly the question that had been on everybody’s mind. Loki smirked.

“No. I told him he had to take me on three dates before that could happen.” He turned and winked saucily at Tony. Then he laughed and the rest had realized it was a joke.

“Excuse me.” Fury interrupted. They all turned to him. “We did not come here to discuss Starks sex life.”

“Yeah, if you want to know that just watch Entertainment Tonight!” Tony interrupted.

“Stark. The reason we are here is because the other Avengers will be living with you.”

“Oh really? And why not at the New York mansion?” Tony growled as an apple was pushed into his hand by Loki but he took a bite of it anyway.

“Because it is under construction. Not only that, but there is no point in team building exercises if you are not there. Since you would not come to New York, I brought them here.” With that he swirled around dramatically and left.

“Hey-!” Tony shouted at him, ready to reject.

“And here I thought Tony was flashy. I’ve never seen a more dramatic exit in my life, and I have seen quite a few plays.” Loki plucked a grape from the bowl on the counter and slipped it between his lips. The other stared at him, unable to articulate anything.

“Yes, well Fury is one for flare. You should see him when he is trying to storm out angrily.” Tony nudged him with his elbow.

“Tony.” Captain America said in warning. He was extremely uncomfortable with this situation. He did not have anything against homosexuals but he didn’t know how to deal with Tony, a man he associate extreme heterosexuality, seemingly flirt with his assistant. He watched as Tony’s hand slid jokingly along his assistants waist. Loki didn’t move, loving the look on Captain Americas face. He wasn’t the God of Mischief for nothing.

“I get it. Hands to myself.” Tony smirked and held up his hands as if to say ‘I wasn’t doing what you were thinking’.

Loki rose and moved to walk out of the room. Tony perked up and watched him as he left. Before he went through the doorway he called out to him.

“Where are you going?”

“Why?”

“I can’t bear to be away from you more than a second?” Loki chuckled at the pitiful way Tony had said it.

“Though that may be true, I’m sure you can live without me for a little while. I’m going to finish some of the paper work that you have been ignoring. Then I am going to be doing a bit of reading.” After he left there was another silence. Clint was glaring after him in jealousy when he noticed Natasha staring at him far longer than he liked, which was more than half a second.

“He is an interesting one.” Natasha said, sipping at the coffee that somehow appeared in front of her.

“That he is. Keep your hands off though, he’s mine.” Tony smirked. Natasha shrugged as if to say ‘well, what can you do?’.  “Anyway, you are all going to have to play nice with him. He is going to be living here for quite a while. Bruce, lets escape to the lab before he notices.” Tony grabbed Bruce by the wrist and pulled him into the elevator with a manic smiled that worried the three left in the kitchen. 


	5. Chapter 5

Natasha woke up before the sun the next morning. She always did that. Unless she was critically injured she never slept in past eight. So when she wandered into the kitchen that morning she expected to be alone. The world lived to surprise her.

Luke was standing in front of the stove, humming a nameless song and cooking what looked to be an enormous batch of eggs and bacon. After looking she noticed that he was wearing a headset connected to an IPod, which was clipped onto a pair of briefs. The briefs being the only thing that he was wearing. As much as she hated to admit to herself, this Luke was attractive. Natasha coughed lightly to get his attention.

“Ah! Miss Romanov. You are down here early.” He said, taking the ear buds out and draping them around his neck. Natasha smiled and sat down at the counter.

“I could be saying the same thing. Normally I am the only one up at this hour. You must wake up very early.” She smiled in thanks as a mug of coffee was placed in front of her.

“More like stay up very late. Very much like Mr. Stark, I find it difficult to sleep at the normal hours.” Loki smirked. He didn’t mention to her that he hated the nightmares so much he would rather stay up. He returned to the food. He dished up some of the eggs and bacon and placed it in front of Natasha.

There was a choked sound from the door way and they both turned to see and incredibly red Steve. There was a soft chuckle from Loki. He smiled coyly, causing Steve to blush even more.

“Good morning Captain. Would you like some food?”Loki clicked his heels together and saluted the man. He smirked when Steve just nodded and quickly ducked into a seat. There was an awkward silence as Captain America determinedly refused to make eye contact with anything but his plate. Loki was loving this. It was the most fun he has had in years. There was nothing quite like embarrassing someone. It took ten minutes for the stillness to be broken.

“Jeezus man!” Clint yelped from the doorway. “Put on some clothes!”

“Now what would be the fun of that?” Loki snarked.

“We don’t want to see everything you have.” Clint barked. Loki shrugged.

“Lady Widow doesn’t seem to mind, do you?” He smirked at her playfully. She chuckled softly.

“Of course not. I happen to enjoy the view.” She licked her lips playfully. Loki decided that he liked her. He was scared of her, yes, but she could play along with a joke.

“Natasha!” Clint yelled indignantly. Natasha glared at him before he could say anything else. He hung his head and accepted a plate of food before sitting down. He glared at Luke every chance he got.

“Oh come now. Don’t be that way. You have nothing to worry about. Miss Romanov is not my type. You have no competition from me.” Loki said lightly, trying to lighten the mood. That caused everyone to perk up.

“So you are gay.” Clint decided through a mouthful of eggs.

“No.” Loki hummed. “I’ll take anything that comes my way, as long as it excites me.”

“And I don’t excite you?” Natasha questions with a little smile over her mug. Loki pointed his spatula at her.

“You, my dear, scare me. Though I like a little fear in my romance, not the type that makes me wonder if I will be alive in the morning.”

“And what kind of fear do you look for?” Tony swaggered into the room with an exhausted Bruce following him. Loki smiled as he saw the man and hurried to get them both food.

“That’s for me to know, and you to find out.” He said with a wink. Both men tucked in, Bruce after he said a little thank you. Tony moaned around his food.

“What do I need to do to get you to cook for me every meal?”

“How much of a raise are you willing to give me?” Loki immediately replied. Tony snorted and waved his fork around.

“After all I’ve done for you. . .” He trailed off. Everyone noticed that he got distracted staring at Luke’s ass. “Are those the briefs I bought you?”

“They might be.”

“Turn around and show me the front.” Tony demanded. Loki chuckled and turned and stepped out from behind the counter. The briefs were red and skin tight. The main focus, though, was the iron man arc reactor placed right over the front of the crotch. It even had tiny little lights so it glowed and pulled the eye toward it. Steve blushed even harder, making everyone wonder if he was going to pass out.

“A little flashy for my taste, but they are far too comfortable to give up.” Loki mused, placing his hands on his hips and staring down at them. As he stood there everyone’s eyes were on him and they slowly traveled up from his hips to his chest where lingering eyes stared at the scars that littered his chest. Tony tried to focus on his plate, ignoring the anger that bubbled in him. It’s worse knowing exactly where those scars came from.

“Not to be rude . . . but where did you get those scars?” Trust Clint to take up the gauntlet of being blunt. Natasha kicked him in the shin, gaining a yelp for her troubles, but it was too late. The question hung in the air. The tense silence only broke when a heavy thud startled them all. Bruce had fallen face first into his food and based on the snores emitting from the plate, he wasn’t waking up any time soon.

“Everyone has a past, Mr. Barton. Mine just happens to be one that wasn’t pleasant.” He answered eventually with a smile. But it was forced and very sad. Everyone glared at Clint. Sure they all had scars and pasts they’d rather not talk about. That doesn’t give them free reign to ask anything they want.

“Well. . .  On that note I’m going down to the lab before we start bringing out tissues and talking about our daddies.” Tony stood with his normal flourish, grabbing a bottle on the way out. Loki sighed and placed all the dishes in the sinks.

“I’m going to join him. Make sure that he doesn’t blow himself up." He mumbled before bolting from the kitchen. He grabbed clothes and wandered down to the lab. Tony was already at his normal table, futzing with a gun. Loki fell into a seat with a huff. He looked at the bottle that had been taken by Tony, nothing had been drunk from it. Weird.

“How are you holding up?” Tony mumbled, not looking up from his toy.

“Fine. It’s acting. Pretending to be someone that I am not. I am in my element. The most fun that I have had in centuries . . . but . . .” Loki trailed off, staring at the ceiling.

“But?” Tony prodded both his gun and the conversation.

“But every time I speak as Luke I remember that it is because of that talent I am here. My father and my world hated me for my ability to trick. I wanted to play tricks and make jokes. Because of that I was punished.”

“And it lead you to here. Having your mind controlled and then being punished for that. I understand.”

“Do you? Does anybody?” Loki mumbled the last part. Neither man looked at each other in the silence.

“I probably get you more than anyone here. A father who had more power than he should. A golden boy whose shadow was never ending. A world that seemed to dislike every move that was made. Betrayals. Punishments.” Tony unconsciously reached for the arc reactor. Loki finally looked at him as saw the coldness in his eyes that he had only seen in a mirror. “So the idea that you fell into the hands of a manipulative sadist and allowed your mind to be warped by a magical building block. Yes. I can understand that.”

“You knew that the tesseract had taken my mind?”

“I happen to know that under those pretty blue contacts your eyes are green. So when I look back and remember blue eyes in Germany, yes I now know that your mind had been taken.” Tony still hadn’t looked up. He had stopped working though. He didn’t move until he heard a hum of approval from the other man.

This time the silence was longer. Much longer. They didn’t talk for two hours. Tony had moved on to working on a boot of one of his suits. Loki was playing a game of chess with Dummy. Loki coughed lightly and turned to address Tony. He had just won his game, causing Dummy to spray the board with the fire extinguisher. He was a sore loser.

“Are you not friends with the Avengers?” Loki asked when the rattling of machines lessened.

“Not exactly.” Tony said, lifting his goggles off and removing gloves. “To date I have had a total of seven true friends. Four of them are now dead. First was Sherry. She was the first person who ever wanted to be friends with me. She died at fourteen from cancer. Charles was a mate from college. Car Crash. Andrea committed suicide but she was the first person I eve fell in love with. Yinsen was killed by terrorist but if it weren’t for him I would be dead.

“Of the living I have Rhodey, but he has many responsibilities with the government and is never around. I am good friends with a man Ralph, he is basically the entirety of the Swedish government. Finally I have Bruce. Except he is always running away from his problems. So no. The Avengers aren’t my friends.”

“Well it seems like you have more friends than I ever had. I topped out at two.” Loki mused, fingers laced behind his head. “Both are dead now. First was my wife. Though that is a story for another day and far more drink. The next was a mage that lived in another realm. As a child I had accidentally spelled myself onto another planet, into his room. He is that one who taught me a majority of my magic because the sorcerers on Asgard wouldn’t teach me.”

“Of course.” Tony reached under his desk and rustled around for something. He pulled out a clear, unopened bottle. Loki raised his eyebrow in question but said nothing. The man stood and grabbed the half finished bottle of scotch that was on top of the table.

“Since its already past noon and we have already broken the boundary of talking about friendlessness and death, I think we should start drinking. I say we go up stairs and watch a Disney movie and get so smashed we start yelling at the characters. . . . Just not Bambi. We are trying to avoid tears.”

Loki smiled and followed him. The rest of the day (and night) they simultaneously annoyed and scared the other avengers with shouts of “HE DOESN’T REALLY LOVE YOU!” and “NOO BAMBI’S MOM CAN’T DIE!”. The conversation ignored but not forgotten by either of them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it turns out it may not take a month to post this all out. I'm still a little new to AO3 so I thought it would be hard to repost the stuff I had written in a different system. Its not and since I am not feeling particularly lazy today I am probably going to get about half of it up today.
> 
> Again though, I make no promises so that if I decide that I want to take a seven hour nap in feety PJs instead of posting you all can't get mad at me.

When Loki woke up the next morning there were three things he could not explain. First, he was not sleeping on a bed but on the floor under a coffee table. Next, Tony was hugging his shins like a teddy bear and did not seem likely to move. Finally, he felt weird.

After a minute he could explain the first two. The booze. After a night of heavy drinking a drunken Tony suggested a fort, which a drunken Loki agreed would be great. Under the table they passed out before they could hang up the first blanket. It also explained why Tony was hugging his legs. The man became quite the cuddler every night he had climbed into bed with Loki after a nightmare.

The funny feeling though, when he figured that one out there was an audible gasp in the room. His magic had come back. Not a lot. Definitely not a lot. He probably couldn’t make a light bulb light up. Still, it was coming back. The familiar tingle under his skin warmed his heart. That meant his injuries were completely healed, or at least to the point that his natural body processes could take over. Musing, Loki figured that within the next week he would be able to barrier himself instead of Heimdall. Then there was no limit to what he could do.

A chuckle from his right broke him from his thoughts. The Avengers, everyone except Clint who was scampering around in the vents on the thirteenth floor, were standing at the door way with amused smiles. Steve looked like he was going to begin a lecture, judging by his pierced lips.

“Have a fun night last night?” Bruce asked. Loki smiled and nodded, moving to gently tap Tony on his head to wake him up. There was disgruntled mumbles and Tony just squeezed his legs tighter. Loki switched to pressing his finger harshly against his cheek.

“You’re not going to be able to wake him up that way Luke. He is impossible to wake up with a hangover.” Natasha supplied. “Though I’m surprised you are not in the same state with the way that you drank last night.”

“I have a very high tolerance for alcohol. And I have never had a hangover.” Loki smirked, knowing that his magic prevents hang overs. Still, the alcohol on Asgard was much stronger so drinking vast amounts of Midgard booze meant nothing to him.  There was a loud groan as Tony began to stir. He gripped Loki’s legs harder and nuzzled his nose into them.

“I don’t wanna go to school mommy. I already know multiplication.’ He mumbled into the shins. There was a loud snort from the group at the door which startled him awake, resulting in his head smacking the table.

“Brucey! Couldn’t you have waited until I was out from under the table?” He looked up at Loki, who was smirking at him. “Good morning dear?”

“Good enough. I know I may act like you mother, but I would appreciate not being called ‘mom’ anymore.”

“Sirs. I’m sorry to interrupt but Mr. Stark has an appointment.” JARVIS stopped Tony’s answer before it began.

“What appointment?” Tony glared at the ceiling, he still hadn’t let go of Loki.

“The renewable energy gala.”

“I thought that was at five.”

“Yes sir. Mr. Luke asked me to give you a two hour warning. Seeing as it is three, I have done my duty.”

“Why did I have to make a computer with sass?” Tony groaned, trying to lie back down. Loki shoved him off and stood, brushing dust off his pants.

“Because you had to prove everyone wrong in a misguided vision of self importance.” Loki snarked, strolling out of the room past the other Avengers. Over his shoulder he shouted “GET UP TONY! This is my first time bringing you somewhere and I want it to go well!”

Tony scrambled up, knocking his head on the table . . . again. As he left the room he patted Steve on the shoulder and Bruce on the butt. There was a stunned amused silence as the group watched the two leave. With a little snort Bruce, being the most used to Tony’s antics, sat down on the sofa.

“He is quite odd, isn’t he?” Bruce comment.

“Who do you mean?” Steve asked.

“That Luke fellow. I don’t know what it is, but he is  . . . odd.” Bruce made a motioned with his hands hopelessly.

“Yes I know. I feel as if I know him. Then again, he is quite mysterious.” Natasha commented, rubbing her chin.

“Maybe it’s just because he is the first normal person we all have been around for a while. Ever since the battle we have either been with each other or with SHIELD. In comparison everyone would seem odd.” Steve piped up. They all nodded in agreement.

“TONY PUT IT ON!”

“BUT IT’S PINK!” Tony’s shout echoed through the halls of his mansion. There were many eyes rolling when he came into view, being dragged by Luke wearing a pink tie and black suit. No one said anything as he was pulled out the door with his ear, whimpering the whole way.

In the car Tony and Loki chuckled at their antics.

“Did you see their faces?” Tony laughed, wiping a tear away.

“They are very expressive.” Loki said dismissively, glancing at his fingernails.

“Don’t look like you weren’t having fun. You know you love playing with them.” Tony punched him lightly on the shoulder.

“Guilty.” Loki smiled.  “So where are we going?”

“There is a seminar/gala for renewable energy corporations. I used to make weapons but now I’m all in for renewable energy. I’m hoping to make arc reactor technology available to the public. So a bunch of rich CEO’s go to this fancy dinner/ meeting to try and out shine each other and prove that they care more about the environment than the next person.” Tony explained.

“Sounds like a riot.” Loki deadpanned.

“As much fun as a nun in a stripper bar.” Tony smiled. Loki gave him a confused look. “A nun is a woman who has decided to be celibate and boring for god.”

“I can tell you that the gods prefer woman weren’t celibate.”

“Did you ever sleep with a mortal woman?”

“Woman? No, never a mortal woman.”

“And men?” Tony asked, catching the hint in the phrasing.

“Just one. Hundreds of years ago. William was his name. Last name had something to do with a weapon. Stake, harpoon, no . . . spear! Shakespeare.” He waved his hand lightly in a dismissive fashion. One affair hundreds of years ago really meant nothing to him.

“You . . . you slept with _William Shakespeare_?!” Tony yelped, placing a hand over his heart.

“Yeah?”

“He is the most respected, renowned writer ever!”

“Hmm, he did say something about wanting to be a writer. I’m glad that he was successful.” Loki smiled. They sat in silence for a little while, gripping arm rests as the car slipped quickly through the traffic. Tony pulled out his cell phone and was typing rapidly on it.

“I got some of my magic back.” Loki mumbled in the quiet. Tony jerked around, nearly throwing his phone.

“Really?!”

“Yeah. Not much though. Not enough that I can do anything with it. In the next few weeks though I will be able to protect myself from my father’s magic.” Loki stared at his hands.

“That’s amazing! I can’t wait until I can see you in action. Do you think that I could do some tests when you get it back? Could you teach me anything? Would any of our sensors detect it? I cant wait.” Tony rambled as he excitedly ran through all of his ideas. “You will be the best assistant ever! An assistant who can do magic is any CEO’s dream come true!”

“You are going to let me stay?” Loki said hesitantly.

“Let you stay? If you leave I’m just going to kidnap you and bring you back! How could you think I would make you leave?” Tony gushed. Loki snorted sardonically.

“I’m sorry. It’s normal for people to want me away as quickly as I can run. Why would I think anything different?” Loki stared out the window like a petulant child.

“If I remember correctly you said that I was ‘unlike any creature you had ever met in all your travels throughout the realms’.” Tony quoted.

“That’s because you had just tried to teach you robot arm how to tap dance. I never said that as a compliment.” Loki looked at him bemused.

“Still. That means that you should throw away everything that you think I might do. I’m unpredictable baby. You can stay with me until you get tired of me. . . Even then I might force you to come back. Ill lock you in the lab.” Tony poked him on the nose.

“Well then . . . thank you.” Loki smiled and went back to staring out the widow. When the car began to slow he noticed that there was a huge crowd surrounding a large set of stairs. There were loud cheers as their car stopped and cameras flashed obnoxiously.

“I forgot to tell you that there may be reporters here.” Tony mumbled. He flashed Loki a large smile and stepped out of the car. The crowd erupted as women screamed, reporters shouted and cameras turned in their directions. Loki shyly stepped out of the car.  It’s not like he wasn’t used to crowds ( one doesn’t try to rule the world if they are scared of attention) but he decided that Luke probably wouldn’t be a big crowd fan.

“Mr. Stark! Over here! Tell us about the battle! Did you really die on the other side of the portal?”

“Mr. Stark! Is it true that you have stopped making weapons?”

“Stark, this way! What are you doing now that Ms. Potts in gone?”

“Mr. Stark who is that with you?!” For some reason that question was heard by everyone. The crowd quieted as the noticed Luke stepping beside Tony. Loki was clutching a clipboard he had found in the car and looking shy. Tony smiled at the act, rather enjoying the little blush on his cheeks. He quickly wrapped his arms around the thin shoulders.

“Ladies and gentlemen! I’d like you to meet my new assistant! Meet Luke Smith!”


	7. Chapter 7

If Loki had his powers back he would not hesitate to magically gag every person in his vicinity. Had he been vindictive that day he may have also ripped out all of their tongues and threaten to eat them. He was, however, not vindictive or powerful enough to do that. The roar of the crowd was giving him a head ache. Reporters were literally climbing over each other to get closer. Women screeched and took photos at a pitch that would cause the deafest bats to wince and flee. He would love to claim that the women on Asgard were better, more mature. Considering the amount of fawning that happens every time Thor steps out of the castle, he could not. Never happened to him though. No one screamed and cheered for the god of mischief.

“You are insufferable.” Loki growled into Tony’s ear. The man flashed him a large smile, standing with his arms open in a wide flourish. He was still in that pose from when he announced that Luke was his new assistant. It was getting obnoxious now that it had been nearly a full minute since he said it.

“Quiet you. You know you love this.” Tony smirked, still posed with a cocky grin.

“I do not like it.” Loki whispered harshly. He turned and waved nervously at the crowd. Not that he was nervous, but he had to do something. Unfortunately it only caused more screaming and more questions.

“The only reason that we found you in the big battle was that you were such a drama queen. Shut up, smile, and play your part. You know you want to.” Tony patted him on the shoulder and stepped towards the crowd.

“I know you all have questions. However, this is supposed to be a fancy gala. So shut up and put your hands up. When I call on you, ask your questions.” Tony demanded, hands on his hips. The entire crowd quieted in an instant. Hands shot up into the air, some waving frantically. Loki snorted. He wondered how Odin would react knowing that a mortal could control crowds better than he could. Even the Allfather could not make an entire crowd quiet with a sentence.

“Okay. You there! Green shirt, white hat?” Tony pointed to a woman in the reporters section.

“Yes. Mr. Stark. Nancy Boon, CNN. Which agency did you find your new assistant?”

“Didn’t use an agency this time. I found him on the streets. Next question! You there!” He pointed a man in the crowd of fans.

“Uh, yeah. Why a guy this time?” The gruff voice asked, a couple of people put down their hands. Apparently there were going to be some overlapping questions. Atleast it would make it easier if not every person had a question.

“I’m adventurous.” Tony winked. “Plus, all of my other assistants have been woman and they haven’t worked out. Thought I would change pattern and see what happened. You there, the one from FOX. What’s your question?” Tony spun around and quirked an eyebrow.

“Is he going to take part in your company as well? What are his qualifications?”

“That was two questions. Don’t be a cheater. No, he isn’t going to be part of the company. He doesn’t have any previous experience and no qualifications. That’s why he is perfect. You there. Girl with your breasts out. Nice rack. You get a question.”

“Um  . . . I have a question for Mr. Smith?”

“Certainly.” Loki said in a posh tone, stepping forward. There was a universal squeal from the women in the crowd (and quite a few men who thought they could get away with it).

“Are you single?!” The shout rang out and many people exclaimed happily. Far more hands went down than either Tony or Loki expected. Loki smirked in his head. This must be how Thor felt in Asgard. It was a bit intoxicating to be on the receiving end of hundreds of lustful stares.

“Yes I am currently single. However I’m not looking for a relationship at the moment.” Luke said courteously. There was a large booing in the crowd. Tony pointed to another reporter.

“Mr. Smith, how is it to work with Mr. Stark?”

“It is surprisingly easy. I have no idea what the other people were talking about when they said he was difficult. It is like owning a cat. If you have the right type of rewards you can get him to do anything.” Luke mused with a smile. Cameras went off wildly and a chuckle rang out through the crowd.

“Hey! I am nothing like a cat!” Tony yelped in fake offense.

“Says the man who gets distracted by laser pointers.” Luke snipped back, loud enough for the entire crowd to hear.

“You got me into the kitchen one time with that trick. Now you won’t let it go.” Tony pouted, turning his back from Loki. This caused more laughter in the crowd. “Now that I am thoroughly embarrassed I think that it is time for us to go to the thing. I promise you all, there will be another time for you to interrogate my new assistant. I’ll just give you some time to think of embarrassing questions for him.” Tony bowed with a flourish. He ran up the stairs, pulling Loki behind him like an excited child. Inside they both slumped a little.

“That went better than expected.” Loki hummed.

“By far the best press interview I have ever given. Definitely the first one without a lawsuit.” Tony gushed.

“And the first one for me that doesn’t end with my lips being sewn shut.” Loki smirked. Tony shuddered and patted Loki on the shoulder.

“Please don’t joke like that. It is incredibly disturbing.” Loki decided it was not the best time to explain to him that it wasn’t a joke. They both walked towards the conference hall. Tony stopped right before the door.

“Why don’t you stay out here for a while? It’s going to be very boring in there and we are not supposed to have our assistants with us. Get a coffee or something.” Tony handed over his black credit card. He waved and jokingly kissed him on the cheek before slipping through the door.

Loki sat quietly in the small café in the building. He sipped a hot chocolate with mint essence. Thor had one extolled the virtues of the coffee of earth, but it was far too bitter for Loki. The chocolate drink was perfect though. Asgard never had much room for sweets in its kitchen. As Loki visited the other realms he developed a sweet tooth in his fascination to try everything sweet. Midgard, however, was by far the most developed in their sweets. His musings were stopped when a person sat down across from him.

The woman was quiet beautiful. Soft brown hair, bright blue eyes ad tanned skin. She was dressed sharply a navy blue jacket and black skirt. She smiled nicely and took a sip of her own coffee. They sat in silence, staring each other down for a few minutes.

“So you are Mr. Stark’s new assistant.” She started the conversation without hesitation. Loki appreciated the directness of the woman. Asgard women were well known for their ability to stay elusive with their intentions unknown. Loki mentally berated himself, he really needed to stop thinking of Asgard.

“I am. And you are?” Luke asked kindly with a smile.

“Lynn. Mary Lynn.” She stuck her hand out for a handshake.

“Charmed.” Loki took the hand, turned it and placed a small kiss on the back of the offered appendage. Mary blushed slightly, pulling her hand back to her lap. “And what can I do for you Miss Lynn?”

“I am a reporter for The Daily New York.” Loki looked confused. “Yeah I know. Nobody knows what that is. It’s a little newspaper and TV station that I work for. I just started working there. I’m here to get an article on the seminar and gala. They won’t let me into the room. I was going to mourn over coffee but then I saw you sitting here.” Mary rambled, hiding slightly behind her coffee.

“Hmm. Well I’m sure that you will figure something out. You seem like a smart girl. And beautiful too. You will go far.” Luke patted her hand that was on the table. Loki wasn’t really great at comforting but since he was the only man on Asgard that didn’t have only three emotions (anger, hunger and joy) he ended up comforting a lot of women. He was doing it again, Loki sighed in his head.

“Thank you! No one has ever said anything so nice to me.” She gushed with a pleased smile. “It’s nice to meet you in person. People like you normally end up famous before many people know them.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well since you are the assistant of Tony Stark a lot of people are going to want to have you for interviews and have your face all over the place. The last assistant, Ms. Potts, was known by everyone around the world. You will be too. I would kill for an interview with Mr. Stark or you. It would make my career. Oops.” She blushed again and covered her mouth. “I’m sorry. Please don’t think that I only came here to beg you for an interview.” She stuttered out.

“No worries, my dear. I could never think something so horrid of you.” Loki let the compliment roll off his tongue easily. He almost wanted to smirk. This could turn out really well for him.

“Oh thank goodness! I have such a bad habit of rambling myself onto something offensive.” Mary waved her hand lightly. Loki hummed and took a sip of his hot chocolate.

“You know, no one had asked me for an interview yet. I’d be glad to know that my first appearance would be handled by someone as sweet as you. I know you wouldn’t think of portraying me as anything other than what I am.” Loki smiled.

“REALLY?! . . . I mean, that would be so wonderful!” Mary gasped. “What about next week? We could do it on your schedule. Here let me get you my card and write the stations number down.” She grabbed her purse and began to dig through it. She pulled out a business card with her name and scrawled a number on its back. Loki took it graciously. He let his fingers wrap around hers for an extra second before letting go.

“You know. We could probably do the interview at Mr. Stark’s mansion. I’m living there for now and I’m sure he wouldn’t be mad about me brining you.”

“Go to …. Mr. Stark’s mansion… Are you serious?! No reporter has ever been there. That would be the most amazing thing ever! I’ve always wanted to see what is inside there. Oh Mr. Smith, you are the most amazing thing ever!” She leaned over the table and pulled Luke into a hug. Loki chuckled and patted her on the back.

“It is my pleasure Miss Lynn.” He said as she let go. They talked for a while after that. It was mostly Loki asking Mary questions about her life. It was exciting getting to talk to people again. Loki found that him acting as Luke wasn’t far different from him acting like himself. It gave him some confidence back knowing that people could like him for who he really was.

When Tony came out of the boring seminar he immediately searched for Loki. He saw the blond/green head bob in a booth in the café. He paused when he saw a woman sitting across from him. There appeared to be no panicked screams, tears, or whimpers. So it seemed all good. He strutted up and clapped a hand on Loki’s shoulder.

“Now who is this flirting with my new assistant?” Tony flashed his most winning smile at the shy girl.

“This is Mary Lynn. She is a reporter. I agreed to have an interview with her next week. We were just talking about annoying siblings.” Loki looked up at Tony. The billionaire snorted.

“Networking already. Well it is a pleasure to meet you Miss Lynn. Any friend of Luke is a friend of mine.” He moved to shake her hand, which caused her to almost pass out.

“Thank you very much Mr. Stark! It is great to meet you too! You must be going to the gala! I won’t keep you! I need to go and interview some of the people coming out.” She stood quickly picking up a notebook.

“Put me down saying that it was boring. Oh and ask Mr. Charlesky about his slip up.” Tony said. She nodded her head a lot and quickly walked away.

“Did you have fun?” Tony asked. Loki nodded and made to stand, throwing his cup in a nearby trash can.

“It is great talking to people without them glaring at you or expecting you to trick them.” Loki smiled softly.

“Well don’t get used to it. This gala is full of glaring old men. They all expect me to trick them. No idea why though.” Tony scoffed and they both moved off to the dance hall. Hours of schmoozing later (with plenty of quips about other guests) they both happily got into the limo and headed home.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is the immense tragedy that is me trying to write Thor. . . I apologize to all of those whom I hurt with this . . .

Two days later the Avengers were getting used to Luke. Well, getting as used to him as they could. The man almost never left Starks side and when he did he was reading, watching TV or sorting through piles of papers. Currently he was in the TV room with one of those piles of papers. Bruce and Clint watched amazed as exact replicas of Tony Stark’s famous signature graced a lot of the papers even though he was not in the room. They had been watching TV and invited Luke to sit with them.

“Do I have something on my face Mr. Barton?” Luke asked without looking up from a form. Both the men jumped and tried not to look guilty.

“No.” Clint mumbled, barely acting like he was ashamed. Luke leaned back from the paper stretching his arms over his head. His fingers crack grotesquely and he sighed in pleasure when they did. “Did Stark really find you on the street?” He asked without any fan fare.

“What makes you ask that?” Loki questioned. He was quite enjoying the peacefulness before Clint spoke. The soft murmur of the TV was comforting.

“Well he said you did.” Hawkeye waved a hand at the TV. On the screen there was a video of Tony and him outside the gala.  The head newscaster, a woman with far too much make up, was droning on over the video.

“The mysterious new assistant of billionaire Tony Stark has caused a spark around the world. This man appears out of nowhere and has stolen the hearts of many of Mr. Starks fan club. There seems to be no record of this guy anywhere. The world eagerly anticipates the interview between him and the Daily New York will be happening in two days. It is the only interview he has said he will attend and has refused all other offers.” Suddenly the show was interrupted by Tony’s shouting.

“Hey I was going to get Chinese. I was thinking about getting two of everything because I can’t decided. Anything you guys particularly want me to order more of?” Tony sauntered in with phone and menu in hand.

“Really? Two of everything Tony?” Bruce  admonished.

“What is the use of being a billionaire if you can’t frivolously spend money on food? Hey darling.” Tony acknowledged Loki before dropping into his lap. He draped his legs over the arms of the chair. Loki smiled but said nothing.  “Hey! We are on TV!”

“When are you not on TV?” Clint teased. Tony smirked from his lap-come-chair.

“Jealous birdy?”

“Hardly. I enjoy my solitude.” Barton bantered back. They room watched in fascination as Tony dialed the phone and ordered Chinese. The surreal conversation made them stare.

“Hey Mark, its Tony. Fine man, super fine. How’s the daughter? Fifteen, no way! Yeah my usual order but double it. Glad to help out. Tell your son I’ll be at his wedding. I get to kiss the bride! Ha ha yeah. Okay, see you in twenty.” He fell limp as he ended the call.

“You’re on first name terms with your Chinese place?” Bruce asked with a chuckle.

“You kidding me? I was there for his wife’s first visit to the doctors after she got pregnant. Signed the ultra sound and everything. Best Chinese in Malibu I promise you.” Toy mused. The group brushed it off as another one of Tony’s many eccentricities. Not soon after Natasha and Steve joined them in the living room. They continued watching the re-run footage of the impromptu press conference of Luke and Tony. 

Twenty minutes and a large cart of Chinese food was delivered to them in the hands of Mark Chan. A few words were exchanged and a couple hundred dollar bills passed over and the team began to gorge themselves on the feast. The channel was changed and they were watching a reality TV show because Natasha took control of the remote and no one was brave enough to take it off her. IN the end everyone was so stuffed with food they couldn’t have moved to reach the remote even if they wanted to.

Steve stared in fascination as Luke kept eating, even after the super solider himself managed to stuff himself. Loki was slurping noodles at an alarming rate. The god had been introduced to Chinese food a while ago and it quickly became his favorite. He even considered trying to conquer Midgard again just so he could demand it be made for him every day. He raised an eyebrow as the super solider coughed in surprise when he reached for another container, this time of some vegetable and meat mix, and continued eating.

“That’s disgusting.” Natasha commented as she watched the incredible amount of food that was disappearing.

“Sorry. I have quite a bit of an appetite.” Loki shrugged, not apologetic in the slightest.

“Where do you put it?” Tony asked, poking his chair in the belly. He only stood briefly to hand money to his friend before lying across Loki’s lap again. Who knew gods made such great cushions? Was Thor this comfortable? He was broken from his musings when a huge crash rocked the entire house.

Outside there was a storm. Clouds were black and giant. Lighting flickered loudly as it followed huge rumbles of thunder. The Avengers all jumped to their feet, Tony pushing Luke behind him. They all knew it was Thor; no one else could make a storm appear out of nowhere. However it did not mean that Thor came in a friendly capacity.

Loki cringed and fisted his hands in Tony’s shirt. He cursed himself for shaking in fear but he could not stop it. Those thunderclouds were much like the ones from his nightmares. He hoped that when Thor found him he would at least have the semblance of gentleness.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let him take you.” Tony mumbled in his ear. He felt himself relax a little but it was quickly gone when he heard his dreaded brothers voice ring throughout the halls.

“FRIENDS! Friends I bring news!” Thor thundered into the room in full Asgard armor and miljnor held up.

“Jesus, Point Break! Did you have to break my roof? I just rebuilt it!” Tony huffed, making the Asgardian stop in his tracks.

“I am sorry Man of Iron. I come with important news and I forgot in my haste that your architecture is not as strong.” Thor bowed slightly.

“What’s the problem Thor?” Good ol’ Captain, always the sensible one.

“It’s my brother. . . He has escaped!” There was a heavy silence as the announcement went through the room. The two assassins immediately reached for their weapons. Bruce turned slightly green but managed to keep it contained. Tony tensed and pushed Loki behind him. Loki bit his hand to contain his whimper. His mind immediately fell to all the horrible things his ex-brother would do to him the moment he laid eyes on him.

“How could you let him escape?” Clint yelled. Thor glanced at him, widening his shoulder imperiously at the perceived insult.

“I did not let him escape. He did not have his magic, he could not escape on his own. Someone helped him and has been shielding him.” Thor answered in his booming voice.

“Someone helped him?!”

“He didn’t have magic?”

“Is he on Earth?”

The cacophony of questions confused Thor and he ended up not being able to answer any of them. Everyone was yelling except the barely contained rage monster, the genius and the shivering god behind him. Tony rubbed the bridge of his nose trying to abate the headache that was the room. HE decided it was best to get this over with and see if he was going to have to fight everyone and escape with Loki to Russia.

“Jarvis, air horn please.” The command was quieter than the rest of the screaming but the AI was able to hear it. Suddenly the loud noise of the horn startled everyone into silence. Tony put a hand on Loki’s shoulder as an apology. The room turned to the genius, who stood with his arms crossed like an angry parent.

“Will you guys be quiet. You are startling my assistant.” He motioned to Luke who was peering over his shoulder. Immediately the assassin backed down. Thor looked like a guilty puppy. His eyes quickly searched Luke, causing the entire room to wallow in tense silence.

“I am sorry Man of Iron. I am also sorry Lord Assistant. I was unaware there was anyone else here. I would have controlled myself more.” HE bowed in apology. Loki let out a soft sigh of relief. If Thor was going to recognize him, that would be the moment.

“It’s okay.” He managed to squeak out. He still hadn’t managed to pull himself out from behind Tony.

“Okay. So Loki escaped from prison.” He clapped his hands together. “Do you know where he might be? Do you know he is on Earth?” Tony asked.

“We are unsure because we cannot track his magic. We believe so because the last trace of his signal is from Midgard but he could have left.”

“You said he lost his magic? What are we talking about here? Full on mortal or just reduced to Houdini?” Tony continued the questioning since no one else took up the gauntlet.

“He is supposed to be reduced to mortal state. However, since he was no doubt released by a sorcerer they may have relieved him of the spell the prevented it.” Thor’s expression darkened. There was another awkward silence in the room as they tried to process that information.

“Have you told Fury yet?” Natasha asked.

“Not yet, this was my first stop.” Thor said, wrinkling his eyebrow.

“Well since Loki is not here trying to attack us and there has been no sign of him I think we should inform Fury.” Widowed offered.

“Very well! I will go inform the Man of Fury!” Thor boomed before running off and disappearing into the sky. The Avengers sat there in the quiet the abrupt exit left in its wake. Natasha could be heard mumbling about the “idiocies of men”.

“Well it seems like Thunder Thighs is not coming back for a while. I guess we can just wait to see what Shield says.” Tony gushed. “I’m going to whisk away my assistant so we can go over the roofs insurance policies.

“I pity you Luke.” Clint shouted from the couch as the man in question was pulled out of the room by the excited man-child named Tony. The moment that Tony pulled him into his room he locked the door and pulled the shuddering Norse god into his arms.

“Shh. It’s okay. It worked, he didn’t recognize you.” Tony mumbled reassuring words into the blonde head buried in his chest. There were choked sobs as he rocked the lean man in his arms. He pulled them over to the bed, lucky he ran into Loki’s room. The other man curled into his lap.

“What are we going to do?” Loki whispered .

“Do? Nothing. We are going to continue doing what we are doing. Soon enough they will think that you left Earth or never came. Then once you are back to your full strength it’s up to you. You can go to another realm, stay here, wreak havoc on unsuspecting mortals.”

“You would let me do that?”

“Yeah.” Tony smiled, rubbing his nose in the soft hair. It startled him to realize that he was being honest. It would tear him apart if Loki left, since he was now a major part in his life. However if the man wanted to stay here or even on Midgard and go back to being a villain then Ton would let him.

“And if I am found out?”

“I throw a flash bang and we escape through the window. Then we are off to Russia and asking asylum from a friend of mine. There they wouldn’t be able to legally get to you. Fury won’t risk it because I’ll pull all my funding from Shield which would make it about as useful as a lemonade stand in an abandoned neighborhood.” Tony immediately replied.

“You would do that for me?”

“Yeah.”

It took about an hour but Loki finally fell asleep in Tony’s arms. Tony smiled as he laid him in the bed ad wrapped him in a blanket. HE went back to the TV room and informed the other superheroes that he was going to the lab and that Luke fell asleep after looking at the insurance reports (which who could blame him?). The group just nodded their head and went back to the television.

The four left in the room were all quiet as the TV raged on. Clint had laid his head in Natasha’s lap and was letting her thin fingers card through his hair. He flinched but didn’t comment when occasionally her sharp fingernails dug into his skull. Bruce was sitting cross-legged on the floor, humming softly to himself in meditation. Steve sat pensively, pencil and drawing pad in hand. Every once in a while he would put the pencil to paper but each time it was rough violent scratches. They were all lost in thought about Loki. The anger that his name brought, and also the fear. Never had a villain been so close to exterminating the entire world. They all almost lost their lives on numerous occasions.

So engrossed in their own thoughts they did not hear the simpering that leaked from the room down the hall. But soon the whimpering became words and the words screams. As the first bellow came from the hall they all jumped, clutching hearts or weapons. Without a second thought they all careened down the hall, Bruce at a slightly slower pace, to stop in front of Luke’s bedroom door. Swinging it open they were greeted with the unpleasant sight of the thin assistant in the throes of a nightmare.

There was begging. Luke writhed on his bed as he begged his father to stop, begged to stop being hurt, pleaded with an unseen enemy for respite. It was violent, loud and agonizing. The gasps, screams and shuddering sobs caused them to collectively shiver. Bruce was the first to snap out of it but before he could move into the room Tony came careening past him. They watched without a word as the grease stained (and slightly smoking) genius pulled his flailing assistant into his arms and began coo-ing. They peered on like deer in headlights at the odd scene. As soon as Tony began to pet Luke’s head in a comforting way the man settled down. They watched until both men fell asleep covered in dirt, grease and tears.

While they slept peacefully none of the other Avengers did. Their night was haunted by the mysterious assistant. Tortured by his screams and burned by the curiosity that made them want to know what happened to the man.


	9. Chapter 9

When Loki woke up he was wrapped tightly around the playboy genius Tony Stark. His cheek was pressed harshly against the arc reactor, taking in the solace provided by its soft hum instead of a heart beat. He stared at the placid face before him. He guessed that he had a nightmare last night. It had been a while since he had one of those. Then again, it has been even longer since he and seen Thor. A shudder ran through him as he thought of the man that was once his brother. He had looked furious when he stormed in. Loki felt his heart pause for a full three seconds as he saw the man burst through the doors. Like the lightning he personified, Thor came and went with nothing but a loud sound a bright flash, leaving as soon as he arrived.

“Go back to sleep.” Tony moaned, brushing his nose against the top of Loki’s hair. He made no move to pull away from the gripping octopus that was the god of mischief.

“We must get up Stark, what if your Avengers see us?” Loki huffed, pushing against the hard chest pathetically.

“Let them see. They already know that I’m in here.” Loki eyes widened in fear and Tony patted his head calmingly. “Don’t worry. You didn’t say anything incriminating. Also, they all have nightmares of their own. Nobody here will judge you for them.”

Loki smiled ad relaxed a little. He was still uncomfortable that they had seen him so weak. In Asgard he would have been ridiculed mercilessly for the night terrors. However, the fact that Tony was willing to try to placate him made him happy. A tight feeling grew in his chest as he thought about it.

“Hey Tony . . . Thank you.” He pushed the words out. Tony chuckled and nuzzled his head again.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“No really.” Loki looked up. He used his hands to push Tony’ chin so that he was looking into his eyes. Their noses were so close that they almost brushed. Loki licked his lips lightly. “Really. Thank you. For everything. For the nightmares, the safety, everything you have given me.”

They stared at each other a moment more. They were both breathing heavily and their chest brushed at each exhale. Suddenly, without a thought, Loki pushed forward and rubbed his lips against Tony’s in a mockery of a kiss. Tony immediately pushed forward so their lips came into full contact. It was passionate, hot and entirely chaste. As quick as the kiss began, it ended. Loki’s blue eyes were so wide Tony thought they were going to burst out of his face. With a small squeak and a flash of green Tony was alone in Loki’s bed, thoroughly confused. It took him a full thirty seconds to react to the other mans disappearance.

“JARVIS!” He shouted.

“Good morning sir.” The mechanical voice answered promptly.

“Can you sense where Loki is?” He asked, jumping off the bed to pull on the shirt he had lost during the night. He looked down at his pajama pants, deciding against changing them.

“Of course sir. He is currently on the roof. Would you like me to send him a message?”

“No. Just tell me if he moves.” Tony ordered. He practically ran out of the room and jumped into an elevator. He angrily urged the elevator to move faster. Perhaps he should put boosters on it? As soon as the thought left the doors opened and showed the beautiful skyline of Malibu in the morning. On the ledge of the roof Loki sat. His hair was back to the way it was before it was dyed, long and silky black. His shoulders were hunched over and his arms were crossed over his chest like he was hugging himself.

Tony said nothing. He just walked over to the edge of the room and plonked down next to the shivering god. He did not look at him, steadily keeping his eyes on the sunrise before him. He felt Loki’s eyes drift to him.

“Looks like you got your magic back.” Tony mused.

“I’m sorry.” Loki mumbled.

“What for?” Tony cocked an eyebrow, which looked odd because he still hadn’t looked at Loki.

“For kissing you. I crossed the line. I hope you can forgive me.”

“You know I am insulted.” Tony said. Loki ‘eeped’ and hunched deeper into himself. “You didn’t even wait long enough to see if I liked it. Just poofed off without even asking. Nothing is worse than having an empty bed right after an excellent kiss.” Tony kept going, turning and smiling at the man beside him. Loki glanced at him confused, wrinkling his nose like a bunny.

“I’m sorry?” Tony chuckled and swung an arm to catch him around his shoulders. He pulled Loki into a tight hug, ignoring the way the man flinched.

“There is nothing to be sorry for. I just told you I liked it. . . However, there is something I have to ask you.” Tony placed his hand under his chin and lifted his face. “Did you kiss me because you felt like you owed me or because you like me?”

There was a heavy silence as they sat there. They could hear the waves crashing against the cliff Tony’s house resided on. Birds called out to each other in the early morning. Loki’s whispered answer was so quiet that Tony almost didn’t hear him over these sounds.

“Because I like you. I do owe you. I owe you more than I could ever repay. Still I like you. For the man you are.”

“Well that settles that, then.” Tony said, patting him on the back. Loki looked at him confused. “Well I like you too.”

“You do?”

“Of course how could I not? Don’t answer that.” Tony shushed him before he could say anything.”Now I don’t think we should jump in a relationship right away. I say we go on a couple of those dates I've promised you and take this slow. Sound good?” Tony smile as Loki nodded, looking slightly dazed.

“Sir?” JARVIS interrupted them.

“What do you want JARVIS?” Tony asked with a growl. He did hate to be interrupted, especially when the interruption happened just before he was about to go in for a kiss.

“There is a Mary Lynn waiting for you outside the door. She informed me she is from New York and waiting for an interview with Mr. Smith.” The robotic butler informed them. With a chuckle they awkwardly stood up and went to the elevator. In the elevator Tony bumped his shoulder jokingly against Loki’s.

“You might wanna change you looks back. Unless you want to frighten Miss Lynn.”

“Odin forbid.” Loki smirked, allowing his magic to turn his hair back to the way Tony had made it. He thought for a second before changing the green in his hair to red. He glanced nervously at Tony. He silently berated himself for that move.

“Listen, don’t worry about it. We can talk about it more after your interview. Don’t over think it. There is nothing you can do that will make me hate you and I want this as much as you do, okay? Just have fun!” Tony stepped gloriously off the elevator to see Mary Lynn and five assistants and a cameraman sitting in his lobby. They all stood as they left the elevator. Mary Lynn squeaked and blushed.

Looking down at his own pajamas and glancing at Loki’s ensemble (a pair of Captain America PJ pants and no shirt) he realized the image that they made. With a shrug he waved a hand at Luke with a smirk.

“Good morning Miss Lynn. I think you are here to see my assistant?” Tony said in his normal flamboyant way.

“Excuse him Miss. Lynn; he enjoys acting like an idiot.” Luke brushed past him to shake her hand and place a soft kiss on its back. “You see, we forgot that today was your interview and overslept. I have yet to change because I was unsure what you wanted me to wear. He has yet to change because he lives I nothing but his pajamas.” All Tony could think as he said that was ‘smooth bastard’.

“Why don’t you join us upstairs and we can begin our interview?” Luke quirked an eyebrow. He offered his arm to Mary. All the girls on the crew giggled and followed the two.

“He is quite good at that.” Tony mumbled to the camera man, who nodded in agreement. “Well, you have fun with the girls. Tell Luke that I’ll be in the lab, alright big boy?” Tony patted him on the shoulder before escaping to the other elevator.

When Tony entered his lab the first thing he noticed was the smell of something burning. Glancing around he saw Bruce with a broken bottle, ash on his face and a startled look. Tony smirked at swaggered over to him.

“Wasn’t your game plan to prevent the other guy to not be startled? Or do things _you_ make explode not count?”

“Tony. Well yes, this wasn’t planned you see. Did not know it would be that reactive.” Bruce said with a humble smile, putting down his tools and packing up.

“Don’t leave on my account. I have been looking for a science buddy for years. Stay. Chat. Science!” Tony said with a sweeping arm gesture. He went over to his desk ad put on a pair of goggles.

“Chat about what?” Bruce asked with a laugh.

“Whatever you want Big Green! I’m an open book.” Tony smiled softly.

“Well can we talk about Luke?” Tony looked up in confusion. He grabbed a pen and swiveled in his chair.

“What do wanna talk about with Luke?”

“I’m just curious about him. No one knows where he came from. Then he shows up here and you’re like a different person.” Brice paused there and crinkled his nose. “Well not a new person. Different for sure. Like all your edges had been sanded down.”

“Really?” Tony hummed in a noncommittal way.

“Yes. And imagine our surprise. No one had heard from you for weeks. We knew Pepper had left. When we showed up we expected a wreck of a man. Drunken, unshaven and close to death. Fury had even called a meeting to begin your intervention. Yet we get here and you are fine. Better than fine, really. You are drinking less. Within the realms of human consumption I’d say.” Bruce smirked here. Tony pulled a face. Still he had turned his chair and was waiting for Bruce to continue.

“You are eating healthy. Not spending thousands of hours in your lab. You have a new assistant. A boy, not a buxom blonde. Someone you actually listen to . Someone you seem to like.” Bruce trailed off.

“Yeah he is great.”

“Then last night. I have never seen you act like that. Never been so comfortable with someone. Even with Miss Potts you seemed so reserved. With Luke its like you are a different person.” Brice smiled, taking off his glasses.

“I don’t know if I should be flattered or worried you have been watching me Brucey. Though do you have a point other than how un-cool I am becoming?” Tony was getting a little defensive now. They were moving into potentially dangerous territory.

“I was wondering how much you liked him. Far more than any acquaintance, more than any employee that is for sure. I think, however, you like him more than as a friend or even a quick lay.” Bruce stared at Tony. His soft brown eyes pierced Tony. Tony felt himself blush.

“I’m not sure. I haven’t been able to think about it yet. I mean we only just talked about it this morning.” Tony ducked his head while Bruce smiled.

“Well whatever you choose, I approve of him.” Bruce said, patting on him the shoulder. He left quietly while Tony stared embarrassed at the table.


	10. Chapter 10

TVs around the world were blaring. It was a cacophony of sound that those from the other realms in tune with the universe all lifted their head in confusion before brushing it off as nothing. Nearly every TV on Midgard was on and they were all tuned into the same channel. At 8:00 the theme music for the Daily New York rose gloriously into the night air. Everyone danced, shuffled or squirmed in their seats from the excitement. It was time for the world to learn about the mysterious Luke Smith.

The TV’s flickered on and a young blonde woman shuffled her papers and looked at the camera with a smile.

“Welcome to the Daily New York on channel five. I’m Skylar Marks. Today is an exciting day as we air the first interview of Tony Stark’s Mysterious interview. It took place in Tony Stark’s mansion in Malibu, a place no other reporter has gone. Mary Lynn got the story.”

The scene changed and the video showed Luke Smith lounging on one of Tony’s expensive white couches. He wore a tight fitting black t-shirt and a pair of jeans however he sat so regally he could have been wearing a three piece suit. He looked at the camera with a smile.

“Oh are we filming?” He asked.

“Yes we are.” The voice of Mary Lynn came from off camera. “Mr. Smith, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?”

“About myself? Hmm . . . I’m not really sure what to say. I’m thirty five years old. I was born in Michigan. I am Mr. Starks personal health assistant. I have always wanted a guinea pig and I want to call it Bubbles.”

“Thirty five?! There is no way. You have got to be in your twenties!” Mary Lynn gasped.

“No really! I am thirty five.”

“You certainly don’t look it.” Luke waved his hand in disagreement.

“Miss Lynn you flatter me.” He blushed lightly and cutely. The camera zoomed in a little closer to his face.

“You said you were from Michigan? How did you end up in California and working for Mr. Stark?”

“That is a long sad story. I’m not sure if anyone would like to hear about that.” Luke trailed odd shyly.

“No, no. we would like to hear it if it’s not too much trouble.”

“Ok. It started in Michigan. I was nine at the time and my little brother was only five, an we lost both of our parents. Mark, my brother, and I were forced into faster care because none of our other family was willing to take us in. Despite my best efforts it didn’t take long for us to be separated. I was sent to a dingy little foster house with kids my own age and older. Mark was adopted but a couple and moved out to Nevada. I was happy for him. He had new parents, but because of the move we could rarely talk and only by letters.” Loki stared wistfully off to the side. When he turned back his eyes were wide and glistening with unshed tears.

“Then I got a letter. It had been months since I had gotten on. I had thought that maybe he had forgotten me. I was sad but also happy for him, after all, he had a new family to worry about and not me. By the time I got the letter I was eleven and still in a foster house. I had been bouncing around all two years. I was ecstatic to get that letter. Then I read it.” Luke shielded his eyes from the camera as he rubbed the bridge of his nose trying not to get choked up,

“Mark was getting abused. Badly. They were beating him so much he could hardly walked or do anything. Mark ha tried to tell his teacher, but his parents were outstanding members of society. No one believed him. His letter begged me to come rescue him. Begged me to forgive him for going away with these people and to come take him home.” He drew in a shuddering breathe before returning to look at the camera.

“So what did you do?” Mary Lynn asked quietly.

“What any other brother would. I packed a bag and ran away from my foster home to get him. I had been doing a babysitting job recently so I did have a little bit of money. I hopped on a bus and headed to Nevada. When I got to my brother house they refused to let me see him. So I waited until the night and snuck into his room from the window. He was locked in his closet. Mark was so bloody that I thought he was dead. Then I realized that it was my fault. His new father probably beat him because I had shown up at their door. I carried his unconscious body out of the window and all the way to the dingy motel I had rented. I bandage him up and waited for him to wake up.

“When he did we hugged and cried. Mark kept begging me for forgiveness and I begged him for my own. It was not all good after that. We were on the run from the police who were saying I kidnapped him.  We got out of Nevada as soon as we could. Once in California I looked for work claiming I was fifteen but I had a height problem. We stayed on the run for seven years like that. Just after my eighteenth birthday Mike got sick. Very sick. It wasn’t a month later before he died in a hospital bed. They still don’t know what went wrong. They couldn’t even tell if it was a disease of a body problem. Still, I was now alone.

“I didn’t have an education though. The police dropped all charges on my when I turned myself in after Mikes death. Turns out he parents adopted another child and he had died from the abuse they put him through. Still I was left with nothing. For the majority of the next seventeen years I remained jobless and homeless.  Then Mr. Stark rescued me. He gave me a job and clothes and food and a home.” Luke smiled at the camera and it was a true, genuine smile.

“I am SO sorry.” Mary Lynn gushed.

“Thank you Miss Lynn. But that was a very long time ago.”

“So Mr. Stark really did find you on the streets?”

“He did. He had put a hundred dollars in my cup. I tried to return it because I thought he made a mistake and gave me the wrong bill. Instead he laughed and gave me a job.”

“That’s amazing.”

“Yes. Mr. Stark is an amazing, underappreciated man.” Luke smiled kindly, relaxing back into the sofa.

“What do you mean?”

“Tony Stark is possibly the most important man in this country and everyone spends their free time picking his flaws. He was the main supplier for the US military and protected this country far more than any person. And when the government could not handle everything he put himself in the line of fire and became Iron man. He donates millions of dollars every year, on record and anonymously. He is the leading power in clean energy as well as medical science. If he drinks a bit more than he should and enjoys the lime light it is a small price to pay.” Luke smirked.

“And the other assistant. Miss Potts. She said that Tony was intolerable and many people agree.”

“Pardon my words but Miss Potts is an idiot to the highest degree.” His expression darkened dramatically.

“A lot of people think that she was really great.” Mary Lynn said. Luke sneered a little.

“When Miss Potts left Mr. Stark she made the biggest mistake of her life. When she publically defamed him she nearly destroyed him. She is self centered and feels entitled. The downfall in her relationship with Mr. Stark was her fault only. She made the same mistake that everyone else does when they are working with Mr. Stark.”

“And what mistake is that?”

“They expect Mr. Stark to do everything for them while giving him nothing in return. She demanded that he stop drinking, but she never gave him anything else to do with his time or another way to deal with the stress. She wanted his full attention but gave did nothing to deserve that attention. The world ask so much of him and don’t give anything back. There is only so long a person can work like that.” Luke trailed off pointedly.

“Well I’m sure that will give the world something to think about MR. Smith. Now if you don’t mind there are some questions viewers sent in and I wanted to see if you would answer a few of them.” Mary Lynn said happily, moving away from the topic.

“Anything you desire.” Luke smirked and waved his arm for her to go ahead.

“What is your favorite color?”

“I am partial to green but I also like gold.”

“What is your biggest fear?”

“I am quite the arachnophob.”

“Do you play a sport?”

“No I prefer to read.”

“What has been the hardest thing about working with Tony Stark?”

“Trying to escape from being the test for his experiments. He seems to think that because he pays me he can stick me with anything he likes.” Luke said with a laugh.

“Thank you so much for this interview Mr. Smith. IT was very enjoyable. Is there anything else you would like to say?”

“No, thank you Miss Lynn. It was fun, I have never been interviewed. To the world I would like to say this. Thank you for the amazing compliment you gave me by asking me for this interview. I am merely an assistant and you all felt that I deserve this attention. So, thank you.”

The Show went back to the announcer who started a running commentary on the interview. People in their homes turned to each other and discussed what they had just seen. In a mansion in Malibu Tony squeezed Loki’s shoulder and smiled at him. It didn’t take long but soon the realm of Midgard when back to its normal quiet.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two things:
> 
> First, the name switch was slightly intentional. Don't get on my case.
> 
> Secondly: I understand that it seems odd that I would wear footy pajamas in June. I will first state that Footy Pajamas are not a strictly a winter thing. Second, living in a cave has many benefits, one being that in the summer the natural state of a cave is very cool. Therefore footy pajamas are common, nay mandatory inside my cave every day of the year.

Loki and Tony were in the car on the way to SHEILD. Fury had called in and demanded that the entirety of the Avengers team show up for the meeting. So Tony, being Tony, assumed that he could bring Luke along. So they were on their way to the port to hop aboard the helicarrier.

“Nice story ‘Luke’” Tony smirked using air quotes. Loki smirked as well and lounged against the leather seats of the car.

“I was not named Silver Tongue for nothing. I am the master of lies.”

“Well master of lies. Let’s just hope that no one was listening too closely to your story.” Tony chuckled before looking at his phone.

“What do you mean?”

“You messed up. Changed your brother’s name mid story. I mean, its okay.  I think most people were crying too much to catch the mistake.” Tony laughed as Loki punched him lightly in the shoulder.

“I would like to see you do a better job! No one would believe any of your sob stories!” Loki pouted, crossing his arms like a petulant child.

The rest of the car ride was silent as they whipped through the cities. Occasionally they would poke each other in the shoulder and point outside the tinted windows to a person on the street. It wasn’t long until the car pulled up to a dock where the enormous helicarrier sat conspicuously.  At the entrance to the gigantic boat/flying machine both men presented their ID’s. Actually Luke presented their ID’s while Tony waxed on poetically about how he was so famous that he shouldn’t need an ID, let alone present to some sissy little receptionist.

When they walked into the conference room all of the Avengers were there, already sat in their seats. Tony brushed his jacket away an swept into his seat. Luke leaned on the wall with his arms crossed. At the head of the table Fury was read in the face and fuming. He gripped the table harshly and glared at Tony.

“What is he doing here Stark? He does not have clearance to be in here.” He yelled spittle flying across the table. Tony smirked and kicked his feet onto the table.

“If you look it up, you will find that he does.” Fury glared at him one more time before looking at the assistant that sat to his right. The woman showed him something on a pad. He snorted and turned back to the table.

“I believe we talked about you hacking into our systems.”

“You did. I remember it very clearly. However I did not break your little rule. You will find that many things can still be done with old fashion bribery.” Tony smirked and flashed a wink at Luke. Luke smiled as he remembered when he had to send a substantial sum to a random person, that explained a lot.

“Listen it doesn’t matter if he had clearance or not. Even if he didn’t he would be able to watch this entire meeting at home because of JARVIS. So let’s just get this meeting started. Hey there Pikachu.” Tony smiled at Thor who was watching the exchange with interest.

“Hello there friend Stark.” He boomed with a smile.

“So what is the reason for this meeting  Patchy?”

“We are here to discuss Loki.”

“Have you found anything?” Steve perked up.

“No we have not. That is the problem.” Fury stood and crossed his arms behind his back.

“Hmm. Actually can I interrupt. I have a proposal.” The table rolled their eyes. Tony ignored the looks and dug around in his bag. He pulled out a little machine in the middle of the table and pressed a button. An image projected itself in the air. It was an array of blue lights with a few flashes of green. It stayed vaguely human shaped but the lights bowed and flexed.

“Is this what I think it is?” Bruce asked in wonder, pulling on his glasses. He leaned over the table in interest.

“Yes it is.”

“Amazing.” Bruce breathed. He traced a few of the paths with his finger. The rest of the group stared but tried to

“Stark what am I looking at?” Fury interrupted in an angry way. That surprised no one since the man has not other emotion than angry, pissed off and irate. Tony smirked and waved his arm at the image with a showman’s flick of the wrist.

“This is a digital image of energy flow. This image happens to be of Loki when he first arrived in Germany.” Luke perked up ad examined the image. Sure he knew how is power worked and flowed but he had never seen it, not in this way.

“And why are you showing me this?” Fury said, still in an angry tone.

“To show you these.” Tony pressed another button and the picture shifted to make room for two more. One image was or the same blue flowing and jerking, this time in the vague shape of a box. The third image was shaped as a human again but it was the same tint of green as the flashes in the first image. Those lights moved at a much slower rate and in an opposite direction.

“Is that really . . .” Bruce trailed off, leaning close again. So close Clint had to grab onto his t-shirt so he didn’t fall on his face.

“Yes.” Tony nodded with a happy smile.

“Then that means.”

“Yep!”

“Wow.” Bruce airy reply showed the awe that he felt.

“Stark. Explain yourself.” Fury was not a man of many words, that was for sure.

“The first image, as I explained, is of Loki when he first entered the scene in Germany. Note the blue color but the little flecks of green that shoot through it? The second image is the energy reading of the Tesseract. It has the same coloration and the same flow. It goes counter-clockwise through the subject. It also moves in a quick fashion and jerk way. Not seeing this it shows that a lot of the Tesseract energy was flowing through Loki when he was here. Note the head.” A laser pointer appeared in Tony’s hand out of nowhere.

“The energy is incredibly condensed near the bead where the brain is. Now when you do an energy reading from Bird brain while he was under the power of the Tesseract you would see a very similar pattern. But there are also flecks of green in there. That is Loki’s own natural power. The blue is the Tesseract. What this shows is that the glowing Lego of destiny was controlling Loki throughout his mission on Earth. Natasha what did you call it when you fixed cupid here?”

“Mental recalibration.” The Russian lady replied promptly. She had a scowl on her face and her arms crossed dangerously.

“Right. That great whack on the head shook up the power of the glow cube, which caused the power to dissipate when it had nothing to hold on to. Now for a god you would need something much bigger . . . for example, a Hulk.” Tony said with a shrug.

“That’s where the third picture comes in. That is Loki post-calibration. Free of the Tesseract’s energy and control of his mind. That’s why all the power is green and flows differently. There is no great accumulation in the head, meaning that there is nothing controlling the brain. If he wasn’t being controlled the power would have stayed.” Tony said with an air of finality.

“So you want us to believe that the megalomaniac who tried to take over our world might have been controlled the same way Barton was?” Fury asked as if he was talking to a three year old.

“Do you want more proof? I have plenty.” Tony said with a shrug.

“I don’t believe any of this.” Fury said, with the Captain and Barton nodding to back him up. Natasha looked unsure but not fully on Tony’s side.

“Listen, I’m not saying you have to completely believe me now. But before we go gung-ho and try and kill the bastard, why don’t we give him the benefit of the doubt? We don’t try and kill him. We take him in and interrogate him. Last time we just put a muzzle on him and shipped him off.” Ton said with a shrug.

“Why would I do that when I have permission from Asgard as well as our government to execute him on sight?” Tony looked at Thor with a questioning glance. The man looked sad and quite guilty, but he nodded his head. Tony glanced nervously at Luke. His assistant was stoic at his place on the wall, but Tony knew better than that.

“I’m just saying that there is a possibility that he didn’t do this on his own free will. And if the myths have any ring of truth to them, I would not blame him even if there was no one controlling him.” Tony shrugged.

“Explain.” Ah, Fury.  One does wonder where he learned his linguistic skills.

“Thor. Are the myths true?” Tony turned to the God of Thunder. The man in question rubbed the back of his head as he thought.

“Many of them are. There are a few that have been manipulated so much that they have become false. However the bases of many of those stories remain intact.”  The thunderer grumbled.

“How about the one where Loki was forced to have his lips sewn shut?”

“Aye, that’s true.”

“Or when he was forced to have venom drip on his face for hundreds of years?”

“That one also occurred.”

“How about when he was bound to a cliff to for years out in the elements with no reprieve? Or when he was forced to watch his own children kill each other and then go mad from the grief? What about him learning that he was adopted and killed his real father? What about his wife dying?” Tony rolled on, no longer looking for confirmation from Thor. HE was slightly red in the face when he finished. Steve looked decidedly sick.

“Is that true Thor?” The Captain asked, silently begging for it not to be.

“Yes. Man of Iron had told no lie. All of those punishments have fallen upon Loki at some time or another.” Thor said, his big doe eyes tearing up slightly.  A glance at Luke showed him holding onto himself for dear life. HE worried his lip between his teeth as if desperate to stop himself from saying anything or crying.

“Even by your ridiculous standards, Fury, that is going beyond normal torture or punishment.” Tony said, as if he had banged his gavel and declared the matter over. He quietly reminded himself that he should get a gavel. Or make one. One that can expand and shrink so that it can fit in his pocket and he can carry it around everywhere.

“He killed hundreds or people Stark. That cannot be forgiven.” The man said solemnly.

“So has Natasha! I’m sure she has killed even more people than him! Even if Natasha hadn’t been convinced over to your side it wouldn’t matter. If she had been tortured in half the ways Loki had then any court or sane person would not blame her for her actions.” Tony stared at the one eyed man. It was a challenge, either of them willing to back down. In the end Tony had a stronger will and the knowledge that he was right. He won.

“Very well Stark. IF he allows us to capture him alive then we will interrogate him and figure out whether there is merit to your word. However. In this situation he is still guilty until proven innocent. Now get out of here. All of you.” Fury dismissed them and they all trailed through the halls.

“Anyone want a lift back to my place? I got a limo.” Tony offered. They all accepted and pile into the elongated car. It was quite for most of the ride, jus the soft murmur of Steve and Natasha making small talk.

“Tony can I ask you something?” Bruce looked over to the man who had hi arm draped around his assistants shoulder. He had been whispering in his ear, but no one knew what he had said to cause the other man to blush.

“Ask away Mr. Green.”

“When did you find all of this out? How did you discover these anomalies?” Bruce asked.

“When The Woman left I did go crazy for a little while. My little drunken inventor came out and I decided to look at all the energy readings that I had. Amazingly electromagnetic readings showed really well.” He answered promptly.

“So it was by dumb luck?” Natasha asked.

“You go t it Miss Scarlet.”

“Why did it change your opinion so drastically. Even if you saw that it doesn’t seem likely that you would have such a change of heart.” Clint piped up.

“Well Miss Peacock. I also had JARVIS scan through all of the footage and look for anything out of the ordinary. Loki saving a bunch of people seemed very out of the ordinary.” He said with a shrug of a shoulder.

“And the mythology?” Captain piped up.

“College sophomore year, colonel Mustard! Also a lot of Wikipedia, but those often go hand in hand.” Silence rained over the car as they made theirs way to Tony’s mansion. Luke leaned over and put his head on the billionaires shoulder. He looked up slightly to whisper in his hear.

“Would that make you Professor Plum?” He chuckled.

“Yes. And Fury is Miss White. He has the temper for it!” The both giggled and snuggled closely together, ignoring the others in the car.


	12. Chapter 12

Loki was waiting nervously by the door in his best charcoal grey suit. He shifted from foot to foot as he waited for Tony to arrive. Tonight was their first official date and the god of mischief was nervous. It has, after all, been centuries since he has dated anybody. And far longer still since he had gone out with someone he liked this much.

When Tony arrived he had dressed in a suit as well. It was black, cleanly pressed and had the arc reactor glowing through the shirt under it. He had a small smile on the lips as he scanned Loki over. He offered his hand to Loki and the other man took it happily took it.

“Are you ready to go my love?” Tony said with an adoring smile, which would have been romantic if it didn’t look so awkward on his face. Loki laughed and socked him in the arm.

“Of course I am. Where are you taking me?”

“That’s a secret. Don’t worry, I guarantee you like it.” Tony winked. The two walked to the waiting limo, Tony pulling the door open dramatically, bowing lightly.

“After you my Prince of mischief.”

“You finally have remembered your position in life mortal.” Loki snickered, gliding into the car with a snooty sniff. Tony chuckled and slipped into the car as well. The car drove for a while, pulling up in front of a gorgeous restaurant. The doors were opened by attendants and they both stepped out onto a red carpet that led to the front door. The double doors were swept open and they were allowed a glimpse of California’s elite.  The quiet hum of the restaurant stalled for a moment as they took in Stark and his newly famous assistant. Soon they were ignored though, as the other patrons were used to famous people.

The two boys were led through the giant dining hall to their own private rooms. They were sat, brought wine and handed menus. They quickly ordered and watched the waiter leave. Loki glanced around the room that was nicely furnished and decadent.

“Loki can you take your glamour off? These are private rooms and I want to be able to have our date looking at the real you.” Tony said with a smile.  Loki smirked and let the magic keeping him looking like Luke fade away. He felt a little flattered and the consideration of his date.

“Do I meet your approval Mr. Stark?”

“Meet it and surpass it, Mr. Laufeyson.”

“You think I will be tricked by a smooth tongue?” Loki smirked, sipping at his wine.

“I can’t help but hope.” Tony smirked. “So tell me, is this like any dates you had?”

“By far the most normal.” Loki tipped his cup to him. He quieted as the door opened. He quickly put back on his disguise. He waited as the waiter placed appetizers in front of the two an scurried back out the door.

“The most normal date? I’m insulted. You will just have to tell me about them.”

“Which one do you want to hear about? The date with the eight legged horse that left me with child? Or the date with a dark elf that ended with three people dead. Let’s not forget the date that ended up with a small moon exploding.” Loki smirked. Tony had to work to keep his jaw from dropping at the statements.

“Hmm. And I thought that my dating life was speckled and dramatic. Well go on, regale me with your tales.”

The two worked their way slowly through their nine course meal. As they went through the appetizers, soup and salad they laughed and snorted at horror stories of their dating past. Each one tried to thoroughly out do the other, Loki winning hands down. After all he has lived for centuries and has had relations with different species.

During the fish dish they discussed their favorite foods. Loki morosely told Tony about the limited fare on Asgard. Tony acquiesced that after a while a diet of only meats, grains, and cheese even he would go mad and demand fruits and vegetables.

Through the chicken course they talked of the Avengers. They laughed about the giant battle. They giggled about the expressions that they have pulled from the diverse group. Tony had Loki snorting as he told him about all of his witty quips during the entire thing.

As they consumed their roasted duck they spoke of family. The mood immediately turned somber. There were many angry words and sneers. They laughed at stories that no one would laugh at if they hadn’t experienced the same thing. Tempers rose slightly, leaving a confused waiter with a bent fork and an apologetic smile.

Over a plate of wine and cheese Loki told Tony about the worlds he had seen. He amazed with intriguing stories and brilliant stories. Tony asked a million questions and Loki had an answer for each one. He would use his magic to create images to the people he had met and the worlds he had seen.

Over the fruit salad Tony spoke of his work. He was happy when Loki asked intelligent questions as if he knew exactly what Tony was speaking of. HEerelished in the idea of having a lover that understood what he was working on. It was rare to find someone on the same intelligence level as him. That’s why he kept Bruce so close to him.

During dessert they were silent. They spent the time eating their chocolate torte and staring at each other. It wasn’t uncomfortable staring. They both kept their thoughts, though they were mimicked between the two of them. They thought of the happiness. The overwhelming content. The slight fear of finding a kindred spirit for the first time.

When they left they were presented with a bottle of scotch. Both men nodded their thanks and were led out of the now empty restaurant. Tony ha a short conversation with the owner, congratulating him on his recent marriage. The man laughed it off and waved their check, gaining a promise that Tony would show up for his daughters fifth birthday.

Upon returning home they collapsed in their suits in front of the TV. On the screen was an talk show with footage of the two entering the restaurant and the speculations that came with it. They chortled at the wild stories and the odd interviews with the people who had seen them on the street. Somehow came up the subject of Bruce Banner and the other Avengers.

“Tony . . . May I ask a question?”

“Yeah sure. Anything for you dear?”

“How much have you looked into Mr. Banners condition?”

“I looked into it a little bit but medical and biological science. I could make no progress.” Tony said sadly, turning off the TV with a huff.

“I was wondering if I would be able to look into it. I believe with a bit of magic and engineering we could solve it.”

“I never thought about doing anything with magic.” Tony paused. Suddenly he bolted up and ran from the room. With a laugh Loki followed him down to the lab. Immediately the sounds of JARVIS, machines and two geniuses rung out through the air.

When the house awoke the next morning they were saddened to see that Luke was not in the kitchen. When asked they were informed the two were in the lab. As a group they decided to go down and see what was going on and find out whether their cook would come up to feed them. When they arrived they were stunned at the sight.

The two were yelling at each other over the crash of hammers and the whirs of machines. They were both dressed in fancy suits that were half taken off and covered in grease. Luke had slightly singed hair and a large smile on his face. Tony was wearing goggles which clashed wonderfully with the tie and suit, which was rolled up. They paused when they noticed the audience they had gotten.

“What are you two doing?!” Steve asked in confusion.

“It’s a surprise.” They answered in sync, mischievous smiles matching on their face.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the Abused!Tony chapter. On the other place there was a lot of warning coming up to this so I really didn't need to note it at the beginning. Here I will. I do not want any flames, any complaining. If you like Pepper Potts you can keep your opinions to yourself. All flames will be ignored and toted as momentary hallucinations.

The Avengers were at Tony’s mansion doing some team building exercises. Well that’s what they called it; really they were all sitting in the room playing video games on Stark’s wall sized television. Actually only Tony, Luke, Clint and Bruce were playing videogames (mariokart because it was the only thing they could agree on). Steve was drawing and watching the group with a small smile. Thor was watching intently but he had already smashed two controllers and was no longer allowed to play. Natasha sneered at the controller when it was offered to her and went back to her book without a word. Luke was laying across Tony’s lap as their relationship had finally shifted to where they admitted to the group.

It was a joyous game. There were a few unsaid rules as they played, however. The biggest rule was that no one was allowed to shoot a shell at Bruce. Sure winning was very important, but no one wanted to risk death by smashing. One time a shell accidentally hit Banners car and he started to tinge green. They let him win the next five games before the green receded. Also a rule had to be put down that throwing pillows at the person who was the lead was cheating, therefore prohibited.

“Mr. Stark, there is someone at the door for you.” JARVIS interrupted an insult session between Barton and Tony. It was hard to hear him over Thor’s booming laughter but JARVIS managed to be heard. Tony smiled and poked Luke in the shoulder.

“Go and get the door sweetie.” Tony smirked. The grunted when Luke elbowed him lightly in the stomach.

“Why should I?” Luke quirked an eyebrow up at the billionaire.

“Because you are my employee and you have to do anything I say!”

“Anything?” Luke asked with a salacious grin.

“Will you two stop flirting and one of you go get the door?” Steve interrupted, finally getting used to the open way the two talked. Luke stood up and brushed invisible dust off his shirt as if it were an expensive suit and not sweats.

“I’m only doing this because I want to give you a chance to win finally.” Luke smirked.

“That’s because you are cheating!” Tony yelled after him. Quickly the room turned back to the game and waited for the assistant to come back up.

“Umm. Tony . . .” Luke stood in the doorway looking nervous. “It’s for you.” He side-stepped revealing the person who stood behind him. Pepper Potts was sitting there looking highly uncomfortable. Her long hair was pulled back and she was wearing a tight pencil skirt and formal shirt that accentuated her figure.

“Hello Tony. Could I talk to you . . . alone?” Pepper asked in the uncomfortable quiet of the room.

“Uh . . . yeah. Sure.” Tony stood and led her out of the room. Luke stood a moment to watch the couple leave before falling on the couch. He bit his lip nervously but didn’t say a thing. The rest of the superheroes were doing their own versions of the same thing. All wondering what was going to happen to the two who had just exited the room. They all sat there, determined not to make eye contact and to not break the barrier of silence that was created.

A couple minutes later the barrier was broken, but not by the people in the room. Far down the corridor there was screaming. Angry yelling grew closer as Tony and Pepper approached the room, forgetting that they would soon have an audience.

“YOU ARE A COMPLETE ASS TONY STARK!” Miss Potts screeched, stopping just before the doorway, unknowingly in full view of the people in the room.

“I’M THE ASS?! How in this situation am I the ass?!” Tony bellowed back, stepping into view as well. His face was blotchy red from yelling and his hair stood straight up in evidence of him angrily running his fingers through it.

“You never are able to admit when you are wrong! I guess some things never change!” Pepper stomped, equally red and just as angry.

“I’m sorry I never became the man you wanted me to be.” Tony sneered with massive disdain. This was the first time the group had heard him speak so poisonously. It shocked them. Anger, they were used to that, but the utter loathing and hatred that came from the man who always was happy to a fault, was horrific.

“You are hardly a man.” Pepper spat back. “You aren’t even half the man that your father was!”

“GOOD!” Tony exploded, had flying in the air as his canines were revealed in his anger. “It is a compliment to not be like my father!” He yelled, taking an aggressive step forward. Steve almost came out of his seat thinking Tony was going to strike her but it never happened.

“Your father was a good man!”

“My father was an alcoholic, cheating, ABUSIVE ASS!” Tony snarled. “But maybe you’re right. Maybe I should be like him.”

Pepper blinked in surprise and opened her mouth to say something. Nothing came out so Tony continued on.

“Maybe I should find a wife and then proceed to cheat on her for over twenty years with women that were so young it was borderline pedophilic. Maybe I should father a son. Maybe I should proceed to beat my child from the age of three onward. Is that what I should do Pepper Potts?” Tony sneered at her. He was no longer yelling. Instead he was speaking in a voice so low and cold that it actually caused the air in the room to freeze a little.

“Maybe I should take my child and hit him every time he asked a question. Should I pour acid on his hands for asking whether or not he can watch his daddy work? Maybe I should tell him every day that he is the number one biggest mistake that I have ever made. Belt him because I am angry that I lost a business deal because I was too busy sleeping with the mayor’s wife to show up to the meeting. Leave him bleeding and unconscious for his mother to find on the kitchen floor. Perhaps I should lock him in a closet for three days because he dared ask if he could eat because he was hungry and mommy wasn’t home to feed him.” The now captivated audience had to muffle the gasps that arose from the statements.

“I should get incredibly drunk and tell my child that the only person who I have ever considered a son was a super solider from World War 2 that is now long dead. Tell him that he is worthless because a seven year old could never compare to a soldier who had more hot air and patriotism in his head than he had brains. Who cares if my son is a genius? Who cares if he managed to get in to college at twelve? Its pitiful that he is not strong and brave like Captain America.” Tony spit out with a growl, mimicking the word his father had said so many years ago.

“I lived my life in the giant shadow created by a man who could not be beat. You think I should be like Captain America too? Be unshakable in my morals and have no vices? The ONLY reason that he can do that is because he has fought no real war.” Tony said, causing Steve to feel insulted. “He has only known one side. He never had to choose who to support. He was just told what to do and where to go. And he did just that. Never had to question himself or anyone else. He never had to be on the receiving end of the blame of millions of lost lives, both civilian and solider. He never spent months in a cave being tortured and only living because of an old car battery. Never had to watch a friend die, who had been the only reason that he hadn’t gone out of his mind in a tiny cave in the desert.”

“He never came home and realized that no one gave two shits whether he lived or died. Yes Tony Stark returned home. Only three people in the world cared that I was alive. Yet Captain America returns home to the adoration of every person who sees him. He never had the one person who he had considered family literally rip out his heart just so that the man could have more money. I have lived my whole life running from his shadow when he wasn’t even alive, running so long yet I was never out of the darkness that was his splendor. So I gave up.” Tony stalked forward again, so he was almost nose to nose with his former lover.

“Maybe I should be just like my father. I should get so drunk that I can’t see straight. I should go to my son and tell him that I am glad his mother is dead. So glad because now I don’t have to hide my affairs. I should tell him that the only sad part about her death is that my good for nothing son wasn’t in the car with her so I could have been relieved of all of my burdens.” Tony snorted with laughter, but there was no humor in the sound.

“I could never shape up in his eyes. I would never be strong enough, be brave enough, _love my country enough_. So I decided long ago that I would prove that I am better than Captain America. I wanted to show him that Brain did beat Brawn. So I built and invented. Still not matter how much good I did, how much people adored me, he hated my being. There was no winning. No hope of a better life until he died.” Tony said with no remorse, watching Miss Potts face for any reaction. All he got was an angry glare back.

“I have lived through more horrors than you can possibly know.” Tony sneered. “Even now as I admit my childhood to you _again_ I have not told you the full extent of the horrors that I have lived because of my father and Captain America. The two people who you think I should be like.” He took as step back and opened his arms in a sweeping motion.

“I gave you everything you wanted Pepper Potts. I flew you to every country you ever wanted to visit. I watched every crappy movie you wanted to see. You have more jewels than the queen of England. You have enough money to render Bill Gates speechless. Yet you still make demands of me. You complain because I didn’t pay enough attention to you after the big battle. Who cares if I died while I was in outer space? You wanted attention. You yelled at me every time I had nightmare because of all the things I’ve had to do to keep you and this country safe. You left me because you thought _I_ was being _selfish_ because I would leave you to save other peoples live.”

“Yet you have the _audacity_ to come into my home and demand that I have my assistant apologize for call you ungrateful? My assistant, who is not wrong by the way, who had every right to say whatever the hell he wants about you. You think I am childish enough to have told him to say that about you? Then you come into my house to YELL at me. You bring up the single most painful thing in my life just to spite me. Even face with all of your crimes against me you stand there, with a clear conscience. You disgust me Pepper Potts.” Tony spat at her feet. With a strangled screech Pepper Potts stormed out. The stunned audience heard her final muffled shout.

“YOU WILL HEAR FROM MY LAWYER!”

There was a heavy hush that befell the tower. Only the sound of Tony panting in anger and grief sounded throughout the room. His eyes were cold and hollow and surprisingly without tears. It had been many years since Tony truly cried and despite the emotional upheaval it seemed it would still be many years before he did again. Suddenly it was broken by a loud sniff. The sound happened to be Thor, who was dabbing his eyes with his cloak. Tony jerked around, finally aware of his surroundings and the audience that had just witnessed his confessional.

“Did you . . . I just . . . you . . .” Tony stumbled over his words before bolting. The Avengers were paralyzed with shock. Thor was crying heavily now but still unable to move. Captain America was staring at the wall with watery eyes and a shocked expression, his lips were moving silently as he re-spoke the words Tony had announced to them.  Both Clint and Natasha liked shocked, Clint more obviously than Natasha. Bruce looked sad but unsurprised, having had his suspicions confirmed long ago through vague conversations.

Luke looked completely lost. He knew that he had been forewarned about Tony’s past. He knew that he man had a very similar past to his own. Still he was stunned by the cacophony of information and emotion that had just taken place in front of him. He raised himself off the couch, ready to run after Tony, but he was stopped by Thor speaking.

“Lord Banner. You are a healer in this realm, are you not?”

“Yes Thor, I am.” Bruce sighed, taking off his glasses to clean them. Stunned by the odd question, Luke remained in the room.

“Do you know anything about the healing of the mind?”

“It is not my specialty but I was a counselor for a while and have taken some psychology courses. Why do you ask?”

“I was wondering if my brother has done the things he has done because of me.” Thor said quietly, but they all heard it clearly.

“I’m sorry? What do you mean?”

“I have realized from my time on Midgard that our ways of thinking are not too different from each other. That our minds break and heal in the same ways. As I listened to Lord Stark’s glorious speech I began to reflect what he said unto my brother and his actions.” Thor explained softly.

“When asked why my brother has created mischief and caused chaos he has yelled at me many times. In these speeches he makes comments much like Son of Howard did in his ager to Lady Potts. He has told me that he has ‘forgotten the light while stuck in my glorious shadow’. He yelled at my father because he said there was ‘no way to compete with a golden child who could do no wrong nor has felt the pain of punishment like he had.’” Thor leaned forward in his chair, a look of concentration on his face. Luke stiffened in his place by the door but said nothing.

“My brother was punished harshly many times for small transgressions. I believed my father when he said it was necessary to have a heavy hand to be a deterrent to Loki’s mischief.  He would get punished for transgressions I had made not a week before and gotten away with it. Perhaps the way he had been reacting is the same way Man of Iron has been. Acting out of anger, frustration and pain. Trying to prove that the way that he does things is just as good as the way my father and I would. After all, we have conquered many planets. I have failed to conquer many planets. Yet I have never been forced to wear a muzzle or go through any of the tortures my brother has.” Thor growled lightly.

“Thinking of our past reminds me that there were many who were angry at my brother for his use of magic. Perhaps if instead of reviling his power my father should have allowed them to grow without bias. If my brother had been treated the same as I, do you think my brother would have caused all the mischief he did?” Thor looked at Bruce expectantly, as did everyone else in the room.

“It is quite possible, incredibly possible, that Loki’s actions are the result of your father’s actions. Many people who experience abuse are affected in different ways. Some become like Tony. They become loud and seem perpetually happy to compensate for the sadness that they contain. Some become quiet and secluded. Others lash out in anger. I think your bother became of of the ones to lash out in anger. It would also make him much more susceptible to being manipulated. If Tony is right about your brother being controlled then the idea of his abuse makes that story much more believable. It also makes it much more likely that he will be forgiven by those of us on Earth.” Bruce explained with a furrowed brow. In the background both Natasha and Clint were nodding in agreement. Steve would have been too but he still seemed distracted.

“I have already forgiven my brother.” Thor boomed, startling Luke. “Even if his mind was not controlled, his actions were justified. He will not be forgiven by my father, however. If we find him I will not take him to Asgard. I will keep him here until I can convince my father of his innocence and gain his promise that he will not hurt my brother the way he has ever again.”

“May I interrupt?” JARVIS asked.

“Sure JARVIS what do you want?” Clint asked the AI.

“I would like to deliver a message to Steve Rogers from Mr. Stark.”

“Go on.” Steve said nervously, dreading what was coming. His mind was still whirling from the realization that he had inadvertently ruined someone’s child hood. That his mentor had been a disgusting human being.

“Mr. Stark would like me to tell you that he does not hate you. In fact he does not blame you for any of the actions taken by his father. He does not want you to blame yourself for anything the man did. He did not say it in your presence to make you feel guilty or blame you in any way. He would also like you to know that it is the reason that he seems as if he does not like you. It is not you but merely the residual anger at his father coming to light. He asks for your forgiveness.” The AI said dutifully. Steve let out a huge relieve sigh.

“Will you tell Tony that I believe him? Tell him that he has no reason to be sorry when I should be apologizing to him. I know he said not to feel guilt but I know I will because there are many times where I compared him to his father and I should not have done that, even not knowing his past.” The soldier said sadly.

“I will do so Mr. Rogers.” The computerized butler confirmed. Luke took the opportunity to slip from the room and find Tony. The man was in his room, curled up under the blanket like a child. Loki slipped into bed behind the man and pulled him into a tight embrace. They didn’t speak. They didn’t move. Instead they reveled in the silence and slowly fell asleep. Each on finding comfort from the other that they could get nowhere else.

In the living room the lively attitude that had been there less than two hours before was never to return. The video game was turned off, books were closed and nothing was said. Each person eventually left the room to go find their most comfortable spots in the tower to think. Steve went to the basement gym and pounded his way through six reinforced punching bags while thinking of Howard Stark and the reality that he had never seen the true horrors of war, as Tony said.

Natasha went to the library that Tony had made but never used. She ran her fingers across the spines of leather before pulling out a large book written about a revolution in Russia. She thought about Loki and Tony. Their abuse and how it changed them. She thought about her abuse and how it changed her.

Thor went to the kitchen. He had come to peace with his brother. With a smile on his face her remembered the good times he had as a child with his brother. Through a pop tart he vowed that he would have those times again, even if it meant never going back to Asgard.

Clint when to the ventilation shafts that ran across the roof. In one of them he had hoarded a couple blankets and made a makeshift bed. He thought about redemption. About mind control. He thought about abusive fathers. He thought about injustice.

Bruce went to his reinforced meditation room. The room was covered by mats and smelled of incense. The walls were super strong and reinforced. The walls could stop even the big guy from breaking through. Bruce thought about nothing. He cleared his mind and tried to keep the green from rising up. He promised the monster inside of him that if he ever got the chance he would release him on Odin, since Howard Stark was already dead.

They all thought about how much they hate Pepper Potts.


	14. Chapter 14

When Tony woke up he was securely wrapped in Loki’s arms. Not even just Luke but black haired, green eyed Loki. He sighed contently and borrowed deeper into the thin arms. The man behind him chuckled lightly and kissed the back of his neck.

“That tickles.” Tony snorted, turning over so he could face Loki. Loki smirked down at him.

“Are you okay?” Loki asked, concern plastered all over his face.

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“After last night . . . I just sort of assumed . . .” Loki trailed off. He ran his fingers through Tony’s short hair. The other man relaxed into the movement, groaning slightly.

“I actually am.” Tony sighed. “Oddly enough that’s not the most horrible thing that has eve happened to me. The worst part isn’t that everyone knows. That Steve is going to spend the rest of my life pitying me. Or even the fact that Pepper is probably going to spread every dirty secret that I have to the media. It’s the fact that she knew everything I had told her last night. Every gruesome detail had been told in confidence. Yet she still believed I owed her something. That’s what hurts.”

“Oh my ást. You owe no one anything. In fact, I would say that the world owes you much more.” Loki pressed his lips to Tony’s forehead.

“I would give my entire fortune for the world to think that we are even, not that I’m indebted to them.” Tony smirked. He gasped as he felt a cool finger trace around his arc reactor. The hand crept lower as lips descended onto his. He raised his hand to trail them through the inky locks. All he could think of was teeth, tongues and heat. Hands wandered as arousal grew exponentially. Suddenly Tony pushed away.

“Sorry.” He mumbled, blushing slightly. “I don’t want our first time to be in the morning after emotional turmoil.” Loki giggled and sat up, his hair sticking up wildly.

“You are such a romantic Tony Stark.”

“Oh I know.” Tony hugged him from behind, nuzzling his neck. “I guess you just bring out the worst in me.”

They both dressed quickly and went to the kitchen. Loki had slipped into his Luke image and was in the process of making a platter of omelets. All the Avengers ate the same things in their omelets so it was no stretch to make all of their orders and set them out on self warming plates (an invention of Tony’s that he never sent out to market). Just after they ate there was the executive decision to skip any meetings today and work on the bracelet for Bruce. Just as they left, however, Steve walked into the room. There was an awkward silence as genius and solider stared at each other.

“Tony I . . .” Steve started, red in the face.

“No.” Tony put up his hand to stop the man. “Please you don’t need to do this. What was said has no reflection on to you. My father was his own man and his actions towards me gives you no responsibility.”

“I don’t agree with you, but I will agree not to speak about it.” Steve said, pushing his shoulders back boldly. “However that is not what I was going to say.” Tony tilted his head like a confused puppy. Steve braced himself and took a deep breath.

“I realized you were right about me.” That caused two confused head tilts. “You were right that I misjudged you because I don’t know about war the way you do. I lived in an era where there were no mass killings and weapons were not nearly as strong. People didn’t torture during war and I was never captured and forced to endure imprisonment like you had. I judged you because I still think that the world was like it was in the 40’s. I am sorry for the way I have insulted you.” Steve bowed his head.

“Hey no problem buddy.” Tony clapped the captain on the back. “We all make mistakes. I would rather it not change us.” With a smile he led Luke down into the lab. Steve smiled in the kitchen, happy and guilt free.

Tony was staring in fascination at Luke. The bracelet he had created was floating in a green mist in between his hands. The little bracelet was by far one of his favorite pieces of works. It was three pieces of metal intertwined together. At the top he had created an arc reactor that was the size of quarter. Inside the metal was a mess of wires and hardware. He could explain how it was supposed to work but it would take three weeks and a thousand presentations to explain it. Now he was watching Loki do his thing.

He really didn’t know what he was doing exactly. Loki had tried to explain his magic but it was impossible to describe if you could not feel the energies of the realms yourself. Basically Loki’s plan was to take the basic idea of the bracelet and focus it into the radiation that changed Bruce and then enhance the bracelets ability to stop it.

Suddenly the glowing stopped and the bracelet fell delicately into the sorcerers hands. The arc reactor was now lighted up with an eerie green light. When Tony touched it he could feel the power that was coming off of it. With a smile he ran JARVIS through the final checks and pronounced it finished.

“My god! I did it!” Tony whooped, clutching the bracelet with glee. “I mean, we did it!” Tony grabbed Loki’s face and pulled him in for a deep kiss.

“It is stunning.” Loki smirked as they gasped for air.

“It’s more than stunning. It’s a miracle.” He grabbed the god again, pulling him into his lap and onto his lips. As they sucked face JARVIS (the cheeky bastard) played a romantic song.

“Change back.” Tony huffed. Loki gave him a look of confusion.

“Change back into Loki.”

“But what if anyone sees?”

“Don’t worry. No one can come in here. We will be fine.” Tony watched in fascination as the magic swept over the man in his lap. Hair turned black and lengthened. Eyes darkened into an enthralling green. Tony couldn’t stop himself as he grabbed the man and plastered him against his chest.

“Never leave.” Tony moaned against the thin lips. Those lips pulled into a small smile.

“Promise. Never willingly will I leave you.” The god of mischief whispered back.

They broke away when the music shut off and a cough pulled them away from each other. They stared in horror as Bruce smirked from across the lab.

“I knew it.” The other resident genius stated. His pulled his glasses off his face to wipe them gently.

“But . . . How? You knew . . . You’re not supposed to be here!” Tony yelped, pushing Loki off his lap quickly. He pointed his finger accusatorily.

“You gave me an all access pass. When you lock the lab you forgot to tell JARVIS that I wasn’t allowed in.” The small man said with an unerring smile.

“That’s true sir.”JARVIS interrupted. Tony took a few seconds to glare at the ceiling before looking back to Bruce. Loki took this time to stand from the floor and dust himself off. He perched himself on the desk and stared at the man, who looked right back.

“You said you knew?” Loki asked quietly.

“It was a bit obvious. I’m surprised that it took this long for you to slip up.” He took a sip of his coffee before plonking down behind the desk that Tony had given to him months ago.

“Obvious?” Tony parroted in disbelief. Loki pulled him from where he was standing to push him in the chair before he collapsed. The man ran his grease covered hand through his air in an agitated manner.

“Oh yes, very obvious. First of all, changing eye color and hair color isn’t really a disguise. Then you changed his name to Luke, which isn’t very far from Loki. It wasn’t much of a stretch to make that leap. Also the time was a bit sketchy. You weren’t really paying attention last meeting when Thor informed us that Loki left prison much earlier than he previously stated.” He gave them a withering glance. Both had the decency to blush at this. Fury had already yelled at them last meeting for not paying attention. They had both ignored the droning of the director by playing a game of travel UNO.

“You have known. Oh my god. So are you going to tell Fury?” Tony asked. He reached for the bottle stashed under his desk. Loki smacked his questing hand and glared at him.

“I don’t see why I should. I agreed that Loki needed a second chance. As far as im concerned this is his second chance. He has had free reign of the world and your company and still not tried to take over the world.” Bruce said.

“I’ve been tempted though.” Loki quipped, causing Tony to sock him in the arm. There was a heavy silence as the three men stared at each other waiting for someone to break the discomfort.

“Well that went better than expected. I guess it’s time to show him what we made for him.” Tony groused, reclaiming the bracelet from the table.

“You made something for me?” Bruce asked suspiciously. He had heard that term far too many times and was not normally happy with the outcome.

“Yep.” Tony barked happily. “Try it out.” Tony left no option for arguing as he slid the metal over the other mans wrist. He tapped the arc reactor to turn it on and sat back. Bruce gasped slightly as a green mist crawled up his arm. The mist soon enveloped him completely. It only lasted three seconds before disappearing completely. Bruce was staring at the bracelet, stunned into silence.

“Well?” Tony asked eagerly.

“I can’t feel him.” Bruce muttered, stroking the bracelet lightly.

“Hmm?” Tony grunted in confusion, face falling at the answer and its composure.

“The Hulk. I can’t feel him. Well . . . I can. But he is not as strong. Like he is almost not there. He doesn’t feel as if he could take control.”

“That is because he can’t Mr. Banner.” Loki hopped lightly off his desk to come and examine the bracelet closer. “This bracelet will prevent your monster from appearing without your say. No matter how angry or strong he becomes you will remain you until the bracelet comes off.”

“You are not the only person in the realms with this type of affliction Mr. Banner. Scores of people are forced to try and contain a monster who would cause destruction should they be released. They use specially infused bracelets to allow them to live a normal life. By adding in Tony’s technology we have made your cuff stronger and everlasting. Rejoice. You are finally free.” Loki smiled at the little man who was gaping at him through his speech. Suddenly Bruce threw himself at Loki, pulling him into a tight hug.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.” The man mumbled into his chest.

“You’re welcome.” The god of mischief returned the hug happily.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something silly and fun to brighten your day with no real plot value what so ever.

Natasha didn’t know how she ended up here. Well she did know HOW. At three in the morning Tony’s obnoxiously loud voice woke the entire town with the announcement of a wakeup call and the demand that everyone dress in comfortable shoes and shorts. After a brief pause where Tony demanded Rogers to go back up stairs and change into something from this century, they were off in a limo. One ride later saw them at a tarmac where Luke was waiting with three coffees (one for him, Natasha and Bruce). Filing into the plane unhappily Natasha had to prevent Clint from punching Tony who was bouncing around like he had springs in his feet. Five hours and they were informed that they would be landing in Canada in just a moment. Another limo brought them to their destination.

The amusement park was monstrous. The sign boasted that it was the largest in the world (A/N I know the largest is not in Canada. In my world it is). There were plenty of reactions to this revelation. Thor looked at the twisting roller coasters with equal parts confusion and excitement. Steve looked as though he had been handed a million dollars and a litter of puppies at the same time; pure joy. Bruce looked a little scared but he rubbed the bracelet on his wrist and smiled. The team knew about it and ran it through all the test they could think of (in a dessert so there was nothing to smash if there was a problem) so there was no fear anymore of unsuspecting Hulk attacks. Clint looked like Tony; full of childlike enthusiasm and wild energy. Natasha and Luke dual glared at Tony, who ignored it.

They passed by the gates without passes and without paying, Tony waving to the workers and smiling. The owner stopped them for a moment and welcomed them as old friends, well Tony as an old friend. Thor boomed that they would ride the largest roller coaster the park had after the long lecture about what an amusement park was, what a roller coaster was and why it was fun.

So the Widow knew how she got here. Why she was here was a better question. She watched as Tony’s enthusiasm managed to bowl over not only the people in their group but all the people surrounding them. It was then that Natasha figured out why Tony was able to become a billionaire. No one could say no to him. He was the child that everyone gave him what he wanted to shut him up or because they had too much pity for him.

“Tony! If you don’t calm down THIS MINUTE I will hurt you so bad you won’t even remember how to sit down!” Never mid. It seemed someone could say no to Tony. Luke was doing a fantastic job dressing down probably the most powerful man in the world. The crowd laughed as the genius hung his head sheepishly and stopped bugging the people around him. Slowly the line moved forward. People were stopping every once on a while to stare at the odd ball group that had saved the world (well, New York but they knew it would have been the world).

Natasha was happy to be seated next to Clint in the car. She sent a pitying look to Bruce who was next to the mountain named Thor. Luke went with Tony, sitting daintily on the seats and sniffed imperiously at the restraints. Steve ended up with a young woman who was stuttering and blushing profusely. Even though she was Canadian everyone knew Captain America. Not to mention that even a non famous man who looked like that would turn a normal woman into a puddle of goo.

“That was like riding a Bilgesnipe!” Thor thundered as they exited the ride. Windswept and dazed the group left the coaster, all except Luke who was impeccable in his suit and styled hair.

“Again!” Bruce demanded in a very Thor like manner. The group stared at the normally quiet man who now had a manic look in his eye.

“I could go again.” Steve said with a smile as he joined them, he had been stalled as he helped the girl sitting next to him out of his seat, the next woman into hers and lifted a small child who was in a wheel chair into his seat. So he, Bruce and Thor rode the coaster again.

After they tried all the large coasters the next ride was an inside coaster that went at incredibly speed and inverted over ten times. Thor ooh-ed and ahh-ed as the alien theme. He spent the entire ride quizzing Steve and Tony about the creatures he saw on the walls, not quite getting the concept that they were fake. After a nauseating, spinning, twisting ride they all had to sit down.

“Reminds me of Budapest.” Clint said joyously as he watched Bruce try and keep down his lunch.

“Nah. Most of the lights were red, not green. And the music had violins. Plus, you were the one throwing up.”  Natasha said with a smirk.

“Note to self.” Tony mumbled out loud. “Look up file of Budapest.” The group chuckled along with him. After that the group split up for some other run. Thor had convinced Steve to ride the Merry-go-round saying “it should be fun to ride the wild beast, would it not?”. Natasha and Bruce escaped to the large food center at the front of the park, pilfering one of Tony’s credit cards.

“Dude Tony. We have got to play the shooting game. We could win every prize!” Clint said happily, leading them over to the shooting game. Now archery was his specialty but that did not mean he couldn’t aim a gun with the best of them.

“Watch this.” Loki whispered into Tony’s ear as they watched Clint pay the man for five shots. With a little twist of fingers an almost unnoticeable green light enveloped the guns tip. Three shots rang out in quick succession. Looking up Clint saw that all three had missed their targets, sitting just an inch out of the edge of the small targets. With a growl he lifted the gun and fired the remaining two shots. Again the bullets left their little holes just off of the target.

Tony and Loki chuckled as he slammed down more money and lifted the gun again. Another five shots were fired, this time slow and meticulous aiming. Five misses were declared.

“It’s rigged!” Clint claimed angrily.

“Oh come on Cupid, everyone misses sometimes. No sweat.” Tony quipped.

“I. Don’t. Miss.”

“Well obviously you do, because you did ten times in a row.” Luke said dispassionately.

They watched in interest as the small hawk paid enough for another three rounds. They chuckled to themselves as the shots rang out and the curses changed in strength, length and language. Loki smirked as a child alked up the to station to their right. With a small wave of hand the child hit all his targets and walked away with a giant teddy and a huge smile. That only caused Clint to snarl more ferociously. They watched him struggle for another two rounds before Tony nudged Loki.

“Alright, let him win this one. Otherwise we might have a murderous rampage to deal with.” The green light appeared at the tip of the gun again and faded away quickly. After that the next five marks hit all of their targets dead center. The two chortled as they followed the small man who was carrying a giant dog in front of them.

The rest of the day was spent in the pleasant havoc that was the Avengers. Thor discovered corndogs. He also managed to break the record for most consumed (Tony looked it up and then sent in the petition and the video of proof). Clint spent the rest of the day and most of his paycheck going through all of the games in the park and won something in every station despite Luke’s common but unseen interference. Natasha disappeared for a couple of hours. When she came back she had a smile and no explanation as to where she went.

“I had business in Canada and figured now was that time to do it.” Was all that was said and no one questioned it. Well Tony did but he was ignored by Natasha and shut up by Luke.

Loki was enjoying his trip to the amusement park just as much as Thor but he was doing so much more quietly. He loved the rides as they felt like he was flying and he had not flown in many years. The people around them were pleasant and in awe. The food he could live without but still enjoyed it. He even took the Ferris wheel, indulging in the Midgardian customs that come with the ride.

At the end of the day the gang piled into the private plane for the ride home. Covered in sweat, face paint (Thor and Steve), and henna tattoos (Luke) they all fell into a sated sleep. Clint was snoring on the nest he made of all his stuffed animals, cuddling a pink butterfly pillow. Tony stayed awake long enough to take a picture before falling asleep on Luke’s lap. Loki fell asleep as well, leaning back on a stuffed animal he stole from Clint after he fell asleep. Thor’s snores shook the entire plane as he slumbered on the one bed in the plane. Bruce was curled up, hand protectively on the bracelet. Natasha and Steve stayed up late and played cards.

Tony’s whims, it would seem, were tiring despite them being enjoyable.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we get to the part of the story that makes it explicit. 
> 
> Warning to all ye who enter here, There be smut on the horizon.

Tony moaned as he felt long fingers dancing up and down his back, tracing the vertebrae as they went. He groaned as they dug deep into the crevices between them and worked out the tension he carried with him. He chuckled lightly as the beautiful hands went lower with each path just to the point of indecency before starting again.

When he turned over he was staring at the smirking face of Luke. The smirking assistant leaned forward and kissed him full on the lips. Lips brushed together and tongues came out to play. It was not long before the kiss deepened past the point to chastity. Hand roamed, pulled and pinched as they explored. Tony felt those wonderful fingers starting to play with the edge of his boxers, which were the only things he was wearing. With a little groan he pushed the man off his lap and tried to curb he arousal.

“What is wrong?” Loki asked in confusion.

“Loki  . . . I-“ Tony tried to start but Loki wouldn’t let him.

“Are you still refusing me? Am I still so broken to you that you think that I am not doing this with the most pure intention of arousal and that I will be broken by it if we do?” The god of mischief growled.

“Well I-“Again Tony was cut off, but this time not by Loki’s words. The other man pounced on him, using impressive strength to pin Tony to the bed, his wrists in a vice grip above his head. As the other man sat astride his lap Tony was speechless with arousal.  The magic had fallen and he was staring at the black haired beauty, green eyes holding his anger better than the blue ever had.

“I am a man like you Tony Stark. In fact I am a god and I am much stronger. You could not force me to do anything that I did not want to do. You could not stop me if I wanted to do something.” To prove his point he swooped down and took Tony’s mouth again. The kiss was all teeth and tongue, with lips barely touching at all. Tony eagerly responded, straining against the gripping hands.

“Do not worry Tony.” Loki whispered against his mouth. “Many people have tried to do what you are worried you are going to do. No one has succeeded even when I did not have my magic.” Instead of falling into his kiss again, Tony pulled away in surprise. Loki sat back up and let go of Tony’s hands.

“People have tried? Many?” Tony asked with a hint of anger. In his mind he was planning an Iron man suit that could travel to the other realms. No one got away from hurting on of his, even those in other dimensions.

“I am thousands of years old and in many worlds that I have traveled I have been considered attractive. It is no surprise that in some of those long years there would be those confident enough to attempt to take what they desire. As I said thought.” Loki smirked slightly. “No one succeeded. Many limped away with the inability to perform such acts ever again thanks to my hand. However that is not the point. The point is that you need to be reassured that you are not doing something that I do not want. If you deny me my arousal right now I will take it from you, even if I must tie you to the bed and force it from you.” Loki growled playfully. Tony felt a rush of heat and his lid lowered slightly at the threat.

“One day I will take you up on that offer.” Tony licked his lips salaciously. “However, as corny as it sounds, we shall do it more traditionally our first time.” He gripped Loki’s hair and pulled him close. He didn’t kiss him on the mouth though. He kept leaning and began to nibble on his ears and neck. The god in his lap squirmed as he tried to push closer. Soon the Aesir put his hands into play on Tony’s body.

“JARVIS.” Tony gasped out, pausing his ministrations for a moment.

“Yes sir.” The electronic butler answered promptly.

“Lights at fifty percent. Turn on the sound proofing. Turn on action Alpha Gamma 229. Lock the door and for gods sake take a message if anyone asks where we are.” Tony groaned as the fingers pulled at his boxers, taking no time to slip them off.

“Of course sir.” The lights dimmed and darkened to a red-ish glow. They heard the door click as Tony ripped the underwear off f his soon to be lover. Loud music began to play. It had a heavy beat and lewd lyrics, the type of sing that you hear at a strip club. Tony took a moment to stare at the man astride him.

With the lights dimmed the pale skin of the good turned golden. With his face flushed and eyes filled with passion Loki looked animalistic, powerful and was currently the biggest turn on that Tony have ever seen. Looking down his body he was mesmerized by the lean but taught muscle that danced underneath his skin at the scrutiny. Finally his eyes landed in the lap of the man in his lap. Proud. That was the word for what he saw. Large, proud and beautiful. They were both panting s they sat, trying to catch their breath before the real action started.

In a moment of tenderness Tony reached up a hand to brush Loki’s cheek. Leaning in to his ear his said loud enough for him to hear over the music.

“You’re beautiful.”

“Thank you. For a while I assumed that you found my alter ego more attractive.” Loki smirked, taking a moment to flicker into Luke and back.

“Oh no. I prefer the image of the power mad god that tried to take over the world.” Tony smirked. “But this shape shifting thing has quite the  . . . potential.”

“Oh?” Loki quirked an eyebrow. “Is there something you had in mind? Maybe this?” He flickers and on Tony’s lap sat the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. Long black hair, dark brown eyes and the body of a goddess. Not the over exaggerated body people normally imagine is attractive but the perfectly proportioned woman that doctors imagine. He reached up to grab a breast but his hand was meted with a chest. This time he was a man but he was much bigger, broader. He had noticeably tanner skin and his hair was dirty blonde. “Or does this please you?”

“I love you any way baby.” Tony said, and it was true. Under each of those guises you could see something that was purely Loki and that made each look attractive as well. He was certainly not going to complain if his partner could turn into other attractive people.

“Oh?” Loki quirked a eyebrow once again. He chuckled maliciously, though Tony didn’t know at the time. “Then what about this?”

Tony screamed lightly, trying to push the man off his lap. On his hips and dangerously close to his junk sat Thor. The long blonde hair, overly muscled body that was covered in hair, Loki had even kept the obnoxious red cape in the image. Tony swore he would never get the image of an aroused Thor looking down on him out of his head and that it would not stop haunting him for many years to come.

“You are cruel.” Tony accused to the laughing god of mischief. The black haired beauty, since he did turn back, eventually stopped laughing.

“Aww, poor Tony. Let me make it up to you.” The words were followed by an image that Tony thoroughly enjoyed.

Loki slid down Tony’s body, kissing and nipping along his way. He wicked tongue swirled around the jutting hip bones, leading his mouth to Tony’s groin. The tongue circled around the base of the strong erection, never quite touching but close enough for the hot breath to brush against the heated skin. Tony groaned. He sat leaning on his elbows despite the desire to lay back, determined to watch the show.

He gasped loudly as the tongue came in contact with the base of his cock, tracing slowly the big vein all the way to the bottom of the sensitive head. The tongue swirled and covered the head with rapidly cooling saliva before being pulled into the heated mouth. Tony lost all ability to produce thought (which was a difficult thing to do to a genius, especially one of Tony’s experience) as the mouth began a downward journey, pulling every inch of him in. There was not gagging and Tony immediately became even harder, though he could not think that possible. Green eyes full of humor looked up at him.

The mouth soon began a frantic pace, traveling up and down the erection. Tony moaned and could not stop his hips from thrusting up to meet the lips of his lover. Loki did not seem to mind as he kept his rhythm and tortured Tony with pleasure. Occasionally he would stop his rapid bobbing to suck at the head, rubbing it continuously with his wicked tongue. Sometimes he would travel down to the base at lap lightly at it until Tony was begging him to go back. Soon arousal built until the dams overflowed and Tony’s orgasm crashed through him with a large bellow and hands gripping tightly the long black hair he had grown obsessed with over the last few months.

“Did I make it up to you?” Loki said cockily, licking his lips lewdly. Ton glared at him, unable to form words just yet. As quick as a whip he grabbed Loki by the wrist and pulled him forward. With quick maneuvering they ended up with Loki on his back and Tony leaning over him dangerously.

“Don’t get cocky my dear. You may have thousands of years of experience but that does not mean that I can’t turn you into a puddle of mush if I wish it.” Tony growled before stealing the lips that had just been on his cock. They were slightly salty but they still tasted of Loki; mint and the taste of chaos.

“Is that a challenge Tony Stark?” Loki gasped out as his lips were released.

“It is a promise my dear. One that I fully intend to keep.” Tony said. For a second he leaned over the god, illuminating his face with the light of the reactor. He reached to his bed side table for the lube, trying not to collapse as wicked teeth scraped along the edge of the reactor playfully. After retrieving the jar he sat back, marveling at the sight of the debauched image of every man’s wet dream (straight or not). Loki was the personification of lust, sex and desire.  Tony grabbed the long hands, pulling them up to the top of bead near the headboard, elongating the body underneath him beautifully.

“Stay.” Tony commanded. Loki nodded but his expression was not subservient. It was the playful look that said ‘I’ll let you control now but you better show me something’. Tony easily took the challenge and nipped him harshly on the neck. He used everything he could. His tongue, teeth, fingers and lips tortured Loki’s torso. He scraped his rib cage, circle his nipples, licked every inch of skin he could and blowing on the trails he left.

Loki groaned and mewled at every new thing Tony did. The pure concentration the other man had was incredibly arousing. There were many people and creatures that Loki had taken into his bed. Many promised him pleasure like he had never had before. None, however, had the single mindedness that Tony had. They took their pleasure and left. Tony was not that way. He was ignoring his own arousal, which Loki could see quite clearly, and had not for a second stopped his ministrations on Loki.

Tony smiled at the sounds the other man was making. The dipped lower to torture him at hip level. Again, like Loki had, he never touched the one place that was begging to be touched. He nibbles at inner thighs, licked hip bones and kissed every piece of skin but the one place Loki wanted lips on. Sweetly he kissed the tip of the eager cock but instead of returning the favor he left it at that. He moved lower still, only stopping for a moment to wet three of his fingers with lube.

He paused to glance up into dark green eyes. It only took a moment for him to see that approval in the eyes before continuing on. Slowly he traced the outline of the tight hole that sat before him. At the stuttered gasp he chuckled. He pushed his finger past the first ring of muscle, bringing it all the way in to the knuckle. He waited until the tight passage stopped fluttering and the man above him demanded that he move. In response he thrust quickly, immediately aiming for the prostate and hitting it within a few strokes.

Loki keened, arching his back in the most attractive way Tony had ever seen. In desperation to see more amazing reactions he quickly inserted another finger, working diligently at the little bundle of nerves that brought pleasure to the man beneath him. The room became a cacophony of moans, yelps and begging. Tony groaned from where he was, getting as much pleasure from the reactions as Loki was from the actions. With little self control he pushed in his third finger, eagerly stretching the passage.

Loki was going crazy. He was not used to this. The dogmatic way Tony was touching him had almost immediately brought him to the edge of ecstasy and was keeping him there, just about to teeter over the edge but not falling him. It was a struggle for him to keep his hands above his head.

“Please just do it.” Loki begged. Tony stopped and pulled his fingers out. He climbed back up Loki’s body to look him in the eye.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Yes! Odin YES!” Loki moaned, grinding his hips up in his eagerness. Tony laughed and kissed him deeply before returning back to his position between his thighs. It did not take long for the genius to line up and push in, sinking deep into the hot body in one motion. Loki screamed, arching obscenely and loving every moment of it.

When Tony began thrusting it was not slow and loving. It was hard, fast and full of passion. His thrusts nearly took Loki off the bed as he hammered in. His aim was perfect and he was hitting the god’s prostate with every thrust, throwing the man into a frenzy of passion.

The room grew louder as the slapping of sweat slick skin joined the noise and panting replaced any words that may have been said. Loki scrambled for purchase on the bed as he was swept along on the ride that was Tony Stark.

With a grunt Tony pulled Loki up so he was sitting in his lap, pulling him into his arms and plastering their bodies together. He pulled him into a kiss that was less of a kiss and more of a tongue battle. Pressed together and connected in every way possible they allowed their passions to grow higher. Their frantic movement shook the bed.

“Please. Tony!” Loki gasped out, panting against the genius’s lips harshly. “Please.”

Tony nodded as he understood what the other man was saying. Together they climbed closer to climax. They scrambled for purchase on each other as the movements became more frantic and less aimed. With a roar of passion and magic they both climaxed at the same time, screaming into each other mouths. 

Both men collapsed panting beside each other. Sweat slicked and sated they were still touching each other as much as they could, but not in a purely sexual way. JARVIS took that moment to stop the music and all that was left in the room was the sound of gasping breaths and the occasional sigh.

“Tony.” Loki started, turning into the other mans embrace.

“Hmm?” Tony said, not really ready to use words yet.

“I would rather not say this because there is a large chance that your ego will finally reach critical capacity but . .  In all the realms that was by far the best I have ever had.” Loki said with a smile. Tony laughed and pulled the man tighter into his arms, not bothered by the sweat and other fluids that would eventually stick them together.

“Me too Loki, me too.”

Both fell asleep extremely sated, unaware of the consequences the next morning would bring. Namely the lecture they were going to get from their fellow Avengers about investing into better sound proofing (and Natasha’s suggestion of using gags).


	17. Chapter 17

Tony was smiling as he flew over the city. He was thinking of the last month. The last four weeks were, in his opinion, as close to heaven he would ever get. The bliss came in the form of raucous sex. Every position, every place, with Loki, with Loki as Luke, even as a few characters that Loki made up. Never as Thor though. They had both agreed that last time was traumatic enough. They were having so much sex it was beginning to annoy the rest of the Avengers. Eventually they demanded that they return to the tower in New York. Then at least, they said, there would be more things for them to do while Luke and Tony had fun.

So two weeks ago they flew back to New York to stay in the tower. Tony growled a little when he realized that the construction workers had forgotten to redo his name on the side of the building. As quickly as he could he loaded JARVIS in the building and demanded the construction crew come back and finish it.

Speaking of JARVIS, Tony needed to remember to fix him. It seemed that the computer was getting too smart for its own good sometimes. Somehow Bruce was managing to catch them in flagrante every time Loki turned back into himself. Tony had JARVIS warning them any time someone was within a hundred feet of the room they were in. Also he was to inform them every time it seemed that someone was even considering looking for the two. Still Dr. Banner ended up in their room getting an eye full without them ever knowing. When asked JARVIS just snootily said there must be a loop hole in his programming. That’s what you get when you create a super computer with attitude and the ability to get jealous.

“Shit!” Tony exclaimed as a bolt of light whipped past his ear. Oh yeah, that’s right. They were in the midst of a battle.

There were thousands of robots crawling all over the city. Shaped, oddly enough, like giant squirrels. Except these squirrels had some version of a laser and a few guns attached to them and they were killing people. Tony was tempted to laugh except when he started fighting he realized that the rabid squirrel robots were practically indestructible.

There was a loud bellow as Thor summoned a large bolt of lightning, rocketing it through the ground so that it swept into the army of robots. For a moment they were stalled, a majority pausing in their movements. With a battle cry the thunder god used his hammer in an intense version whack-a-mole.

Natasha and Clint were working as a team. Clint would shoot off an electrified/explosive arrow. Then Natasha would attack the robot with a machete that appeared from god know where. Slowly they were working their way through the creatures, leaving a scatter of parts behind them. Over the com they were talking about Budapest.

Bruce had taken off his swanky new bracelet and was currently smashing his way through Central park. The Big Guy seemed calmer though, much more direct in his destruction. Tony mused about that. Was in the residual from the bracelet and it would go away after a while? Or was the bracelet becoming a more permanent affect and would eventually make the Hulk completely controllable? There was much need for experimenting.

Captain America was not fighting on the ground as he normally did. It didn’t take long for them to notice that the indestructible nature of the squirrels made it impossible for his shield to do any damage. Instead he was in the air in a one man fighter of Tony’s own design that he had created for the army a few years back. This one specifically had JARVIS in it though. Well it didn’t until Tony hacked into its computer and forced it to be that way.

Tony was flying above the mess looking for the controller. There was a flashing light on the screen as the computer detected the large spike of energy. A sharp right turn and Iron man was on his way to the source. As he came up he saw a glowing blue light on the top of a sky scraper.  

Tony nearly fell out of the sky he was laughing so hard. The man, if he could be called that, was dressed in a silly costume and standing dramatically in a platform. He was dressed in green spandex with a long blue cape. On his head he had a pair of furry ears and a large bushy tail was glued to his backside. He even went as far as putting on a false nose with whiskers. The man was dressed as a squirrel. To top off the obnoxious dress he had donned a crown.

“Hey Lord of the squirrels!” Tony shouted, hovering in front of the man with his face mask up.

“Man of Iron. You have come to fight me?” The man boomed, spreading his arms in invitation.

“No. Not really. I was just trying to see if you saw the man who made these things? They are a bit obnoxious and I was going to ask them to turn them off.” Tony quipped, landing softly on the building. The man turned an ugly shade of purple.

“I am the master of these monsters! I created them and I control them! I will never turn them off!” He yelled. His ears twitched.

“You made these? Seriously? You look more like you are going to a comic con convention.”

“You dare insult me?” He screeched.

“Don’t think you are special. I insult everybody.” Tony sneered, glancing at his metal coated fingers as if he was examining his fingernails.

“INSOLENT!” Suddenly squirrel man, as Tony dubbed him (don’t judge, he didn’t have much time), raised a scepter he hadn’t seen before. A bolt of blue energy streaked towards him. He jerked, barely missing the streaming light. He was about to say something but he was stopped by another beam of light, this tome purple.

The battle that raged on afterwards was like a light show. Full of explosions, lasers, lights and bullets. They danced from building top to building top. They exchanged weapons as if they were playing volleyball. Tony watched with worry as the suits energy was slowly falling. Squirrel man was fiercer than expected, having weapons very similar to his own.

Pain. That’s all that he was registering now. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could hear JARVIS shouting about critical damage and wounds. He tuned it out though, there was too much pain. He blacked out when he hit the ground. When his vision returned it was blurred and stuttered. He saw red. Figured it was fire or maybe it was blood? Who knows? There was horrible screeching and a long of explosions. He blacked out again and reawaked to faces and silence. Well not really silence. The faces were yelling. There was no explosions though and less screaming so he was happy. His face mask was off and sitting to his right, blinking critical on the still visible screen.

Did he black out again? Probably did. In front of him was Loki in full battle armor. Concerned green eyes peered down at him. With a smile Tony raised his hand, which he was surprised to find was bloody, and brought it to Loki’s face. Lovingly he stroked the pale cheek with bloody fingers.

“You are so sexy dressed like that.” Tony gasped through the pain.

“And you are an idiot.” Loki chuckled sadly, clasping the hand in his own. “Rest now Tony. You will live through this but it will take time.”


	18. Chapter 18

When Tony woke up he groaned for two reasons. The first reason was pain. Other than the throbbing in his muscles and the piercing pain in his head, which were almost a constant for him, his arm was searing and there was an uncomfortable itch all over his body. The second reason was that he was in the hospital wing in his mansion. When he first made the place he had painted the walls yellow and now he was regretting it. Another groan and he tried to sit up. A quick glance around and he got more information than he would from a debriefing from a doctor.

A broken arm, which explained the searing pain. Also a twisted ankle that should be fine by now. A slight concussion to go along with it. There were a couple fracture in his ribs but nothing serious there. Overall he was going to be sore for many days. With a sneer Tony reached over to pull the IV out of his hand.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Bruce spoke up for the first time since Tony woke. He was perched in a chair a little bit away, rubbing away unerringly at his glasses. Tony glared at him before tugging on the tubing to free his hands.

“What happened?” Tony demanded. Bruce sighed and put his glasses back on his face. Without a word he stood and moved towards Tony. With a soft hand he pushed him back into the bed and reached for his arm.

‘Well a lot has happened since you fell. I guess you could say it started when we noticed you taking on Lord Squirrellador by yourself.” Bruce said, humming as he took Tony’s pulse.

“Lord Squirreallador?”

“You really should listen to the briefings. Any way. You were fighting him by yourself. Next thing we know you are struck by a yellow light and plummeting to the ground. We all rush to your side. Suddenly we notice the robots have stopped. Out of nowhere Loki appeared. He took out the man with a single hit of his staff, a big twisted gold thing. After the squirrel man was knocked unconscious Loki appeared down with us.” Bruce trailed off as if trying to think of something.

“How odd it was to see the mass murdering villain we have been looking for tear apart your suit and use his magic to heal you. Even weirder was when you woke up you weren’t surprised or scared. Almost like you knew Loki and that you were friends. You passed out after that. I brought you here while Thor, Steve and Clint brought Loki to Fury.”

“WHAT?!”

“Tony calm down!” Bruce tried to placate him over the sound of heart monitors going bezerk.

“Calm down?! Why the hell would I calm down? You let him get taken by Fury! He is probably getting tortured as we speak!” Suddenly strong hands pushed him down again.’

“Yes he is. But it will not be helped by you bursting in there!” Bruce yelled.

“What?”

“They know Tony. They know that he is Luke. Took them way longer than I thought it was going to, really. They tried to call Luke after your accident. When they couldn’t find him they put two and two together and realized that you had been hiding an interplanetary criminal for months and that they couldn’t really trust you. Or that is how Fury explained it.”

“And they believed him?” Tony sneered.

“Steve did. Clint might have too, but he was more concerned about Loki getting the punishment he deserved. Natasha was just following orders I think. Thor went into a complete snit and had to be tranquilized before he tore apart the entire base that they are hiding in.”

“Well then. We better get going.” Tony said, pulling off all the other machinery that was attached to him.

“Go where? They won’t tell me where they are because they think I would tell you and they don’t want you there.”

“JARVIS?” Tony asked his ceiling.

“Yes sir.” The mechanical voice rattled out.

“Please activate the tracking devices in Steve’s shield, Loki’s shoe, Clint’s arrows and the one on Fury’s eye patch. Tell me if they are all in the same place and where they are.”

“You have a tracking device in Fury’s eye patch? How did you manage that one?” Bruce said in amazement, no longer stopping Tony from getting out of bed and putting on his clothes. Instead he was packing his own bag and readjusting his bracelet.

“I would tell you but I can’t. I sold the technology over to the CIA. They said I can use it as I wish as longs as I don’t tell anybody.” Tony replied flippantly, as if it was normal to say something like that.

“The CIA lets you use such a device with no restrictions?”

“Well there are ten people that I am not allowed to use it on.” Tony smirked before leading Bruce to one of his custom cars.

“Ten people? That’s it? Who are they?”

“I would tell you their names but I am sure you have never heard of them. In truth they don’t technically exist in the world. It would be very bad for you if you ever met those people.”

“Sir. They have been located. All four devices reside within a thousand feet of each other.” JARVIS interrupted.

“Put it in the GPS and inform me if anything changes.” Tony smiled, looking at the green dot that appeared on the screen in his dashboard. Bruce looked at it in interest but couldn’t figure out exactly where it was indicating.

“Do you have one of those things for me?” Bruce asked, despite knowing he did not want to hear the answer.

“Of course. Everyone I have any type of relationship with has one. Even some of my enemies.” Tony smirked dangerously.

“Where? I don’t have something that I carry around with me all the time.” Bruce tried to reason.

“It’s in your ankle.”

“ _In_ my ankle.” Bruce gasped. Stunned at the idea that he was stuck with something that was shot into his body and that he didn’t immediately Hulk out.

“It is very good technology.” Tony shrugged and continued driving. When they parked it was in front of a non descript building in the middle of nowhere. It was the first building they saw in the last twenty miles and it was no bigger than a single room. Tony stepped out of the car, bringing the briefcase/ironman suit along with him. Bruce followed along, confused and silent. Tony didn’t hesitate to open the thin wooden door and wave in Bruce.

There was a single woman sitting at a desk. There were no windows and one other door on the other side of the room. She wore a track suit and was lazily reading a magazine on her desk. She only looked up briefly when the two entered. Her hand tapped lightly on the desk near a button that Bruce just noticed.

“I’ve come to see the director!” Tony announced in the silent room. “I heard he has a part for me in his new play. I get to be Romeo. Are you Juliet?” Tony asked. He placed a hundred dollar bill in front of the magazine. With chilly eyes the woman glanced at the bill, looked at Tony and then went back to reading her magazine. Suddenly the other door opened and revealed an elevator.

The elevator fell for a long time. Bruce was ready to break the silence but was stopped by the anger radiating off of Tony. The man seemed to pulse with the noxious energy and even his arc reactor seemed to glow brighter as he clenched his jaw and glared at the door. The door slid open finally to reveal a long room. Fury stood at the front end over a bunch of documents and Clint leaning over his shoulder. Steve was seated to the left, starring unerringly at the table. Thor was also at the table at the other end. He was silently glaring at Fury. They all looked up when the elevator dinged and deposited the two geniuses in front of them.

“What are you doing here?!” Fury yelled, banging his fist on the table. Tony sneered and slammed his case on the table in response.

“I could say the same thing but I already know what you are doing.” Tony glared around the room. “Why the _fuck_ did you take him! We had a deal Fury! We were not going to kill him or torture him!” Tony bellowed, face turning red.

“I said I would not kill him. I never promised anything else. That was all before we knew you were sleeping with him!”

“How does that matter?! He has been living with us for eight months and has done nothing but help us. You have no right to take him!” Tony screeched.

“I have every right! He tried to take over the world! If I want to question him no one would disagree with any methods I chose to use! He would be a valuable tool against other aliens.” Fury roared back remorselessly.

“He is not an oyster. You cannot pry him apart just in the hopes that you will find a pearl! Furthermore I have presented you with more than enough evidence to prove that it was NOT HIS FAULT. Everyone would disagree! I disagree! Bruce disagrees! All the shit you have pulled over the years has had you toeing the line with no consequences. Now you took the biggest fucking leap over the line that I have ever seen. You have the audacity to tell me that what you are doing isn’t wrong?” Tony screeched until he felt his voice giving out slightly. That did not deter him though and he took a deep breathe ready to continue his glorious rant.

“Tony I- we-.” Steve started but was interrupted.

“NO. Slaves don’t get to speak. When you finally learn to have an original thought and not blindly obey every command given to you by a retarded superiors you get to express your opinion. Until then you sit, shut up and be the fucking slave you want to be.” Steve burned with anger but did as he was told, slipping back into his seat. It didn’t stop the glare but Tony was on a rampage and was not going to stop with him.

“And you!” Tony spun to point accusingly at Thor. Thor looked ashamed and bowed his head, knowing he deserved whatever curses that were going to come his way.

“You should be ashamed of yourself! You have been going on about how you have forgiven and love your brother! And yet when he is taken you are defeated by a tranq dart? If you really loved him you would have found and released him the moment you woke again! How dare you call yourself a good brother while Loki is still in the clutches of that lunatic?” The accusing finger swept to point at the one-eyed director.

“You are right Man of Iron!” Tor thundered, pounding on the table leaving a long crack that nearly split it in two.

“Of course I’m right! Now I am going to be led to my lover whether you like it or not. If you refuse I will use every explosive technology I own and tear down every single wall until I get what I want and only then will I consider get you out before this entire place falls on your head.' Tony growled, not backing down the slightest from Fury’s glare.

“I will show you where he is Son of Stark.” Thor stood. He led them all down the hall past a series of unmarked doors. Finally he stopped in front of one and waited for Tony to move. Without any hesitation Tony tapped in an eight digit code. A light beep and a slight hiss were the only indication that anything was going to happen.

The door swung open.


	19. Chapter 19

The first thing Tony noticed when he entered the room was the smell. It reeked of antiseptic like a hospital, burning and acrid. Under the harsh scent of chemicals sat the eerie smell of blood. It was a noxious combination and Tony had to work to keep from vomiting.

The first thing in his line of vision was Natasha. She was sitting in a little metal chair, perusing a magazine with uninterested eyes. When the door banged open she glanced up in surprise. To everyone astonishment she relaxed at the sight of an enraged Tony. She nodded to her left and sat back, relifting the magazine.

Loki looked a mess. It had only been a couple of days but already he seemed emaciated. Tony scanned his sleeping face and snarled at the black eye and split lip that was still bleeding slightly. He was dressed in thin grey clothes that where ripped in various places. He was strapped down by thick leather straps. Tied down by the wrist, elbow, chest, thigh, calf and finally his ankles. Next to him was a menacing looking IV bag which was no doubt the reason why he was asleep at the moment.

“Wake him up.” Tony demanded. Natasha nodded her head and moved towards the tubing.

“Stark you cannot-“ Fury was cut off from his rant by a series of clicks and the warped sound of a blaster charging. With a glance at the billionaires face he made the smart decision and stood down, but not without a heavy sneer on his face.  A groan snapped them back to the demigod.

“Tony.” A pained whimper came. Awkwardly Tony lifted him with one arm, the other still fixed on the enraged director. Bruce scrambled to get his other side, for a skinny man Loki was quite heavy. The black haired head lolled as if his neck was made of rubber.

“Ah. Tony.” Loki hummed with a deranged smile. “I know you would come. I’m just surprised that you dyed your hair purple.” The green eyes peered curiously at the genius.

“Loki, are you okay?” Tony asked a hint of panic in his voice. He was desperately hoping that the man hadn’t finally lost his sanity.

“Natasha . . . Natasha gave me this wonderful thing. It’s called Morphine. Didn’t feel a thing they did to me.” Loki groused on.

“Agent Romanoff!” Fury barked. Again he was stopped at the threat of a glowing blue light.

“We are going to go now. I have to make sure he is okay. Bruce, Natasha, Thor. You are all welcome to come with me. Fury.” Tony glared at the man in question. “If you ever want to see a dime from my accounts again you are going to do exactly as I say. For now you are going to let us leave without any strife. Tomorrow you will come to my tower, unarmed. There I will tell you what my demands are and you will fulfill everything I say unless you want every secret you have spilled across the internet.” He threatened.

“I can’t let you do that.” Fury growled.

“This is no longer about what you are going to LET me do. This is what I am going to do what I want and you can do what you want. I am just explaining what the consequences are if you react wrong. You are risking three hundred million dollars and the loyalty of Iron man. And . . . Hulk and a thunder god as well.” Tony looked for a confirming nod from the two men and got it quite readily.

“Tony.” Fury took a step forward.

“I WILL BLOW THIS PLACE DOWN!” Tony roared. “If you touch me or Loki I will blast this place into a smoking crater without a shred of remorse. You pushed me Fury! Right to the edge. You have done your psych studies, you know I will do it.”

Without another word the five turned, four walking and one being carried, to the elevator. They rode quickly and exited when the doors binged open. A quick word was whispered to the secretary and another bill was passed. Outside Tony’s roadster car had been replaced with a limo. A man was sitting with the door open.

“Hey there Happy.” Tony said.

“Hello sir. Good to see you again.” The man, Happy, bowed slightly before closing the door and taking the driver’s seat.

“Have a good vacation?”

“Yes sir. It was kind of you to give me a six month paid vacation. The wife and I went to Figi. It was wonderful. I heard that you got a new assistant. Is that him?” Happy peered back to his boss who had Loki laid across his lap, running his fingers through the jet black hair.

“Yes it is. “

“Isn’t he also the guy who tried to take over the world?”

“Yeah but there are extenuating circumstances.” Tony said with a shrug.

“Of course sir. I understand.”

The trip back to Tony’s tower seemed much longer than when they were driving up to rescue the demigod. Thor was fidgeting and obviously full of energy because Natasha’s hair was starting to fizz with all the static he was producing. They pulled into the spacious garage and filed out of the car, finally relaxing.

Loki was carried up to the infirmary and deposited on the bed. Bruce shoo-ed them out of the room, pulling on gloves as he did. It only took a couple minutes but Bruce appeared with the news that he was fine. No life threatening injuries. He would probably sleep through the rest of the day and through the night.

“Man of Iron.” Thro spoke up. Tony turned to him. He was slightly fuming from hearing the injury report. He shouldn’t be, Loki was in far better shape than he had expected but Tony was not in the mood to rationalize with himself.

“Yeah Thor?”

“Would it be alright if I sat with my brother?” The monstrous man asked quietly.  Tony waved and nodded, walking away to take his anger out at the inventions in his lab. The mountain of a man lumbered his way into the infirmary. When he sat down on the metal chair it groaned under the effort of keeping him up. Slowly, Thor reached out a hand to the man he always thought of as a younger brother. He brushed away a strand hair from his face. He sighed as he looked at the peaceful face, a sight he hadn’t seen in decades.

Staring at the sunken face Thor felt more weary and depressed than he had in years, even when he thought his brother was dead. To know how much his brother had gone through, not just when he was gone and had his mind taken. Thor had come to the Man of Iron many times over the last couple months to speak of his brother. To hear of the same stories from a different view made the events seem horrifying, and Thor had even been part of many of those stories. Thor was feeling many things. Anger, mostly at his father and himself. Sad, because this was his brother and these things should have never happened. Happy, because his brother seemed happy here and there was hope that he could be part of his brother’s happiness.

“I am sorry, brother mine. For centuries I have been blinded by fathers’ strong words and the opinions of others. I know an apology will mean nothing to you and for that you hold no blame. I will prove that I can be the brother I always imagined I was. If only you give me the chance.” After that Thor fell silent and kept vigil over his brother’s bed until the following morning.

Dawn came quickly and the four were sitting around the table, Loki remained asleep. Fury was supposed to be here soon. When they did arrive Fury was leading a congregation of SHIELD employees with a smirk. Steve and Clint were following; Steve looking well and truly ashamed with his head hung low. Clint didn’t look as ashamed as the captain but he did not look as confident as Fury either. He kept glancing nervously between Natasha and Tony.

With a flourishing hand Tony motioned them all to sit at the long table. The three took the invitation and sat, the other agents standing to the side with their hands on their hips. Tony sneered at them but didn’t comment. HE grabbed a file and threw it across the table so it landed in front of Fury. A pen flew after it and clattered next to the pile of papers.

“What is this?” Fury asked without even opening the file.

“That,” Tony pointed at the papers. “Is a contract that you are going to sign and follow.” Fury opened it silently and began to read.

“No.” He said after reading only the first few paragraphs.

“No isn’t an option here Director. This isn’t a partnership where you get to help make the decisions. YOU will sign that contract and do exactly as it says. You will never arrest or touch Loki again. You will tell NO ONE that he is here on earth. You will never threaten a member of the Avengers again. You will no longer torture anyone for any reason. You will inform me if there is any other interaction with any alien life form. You will no longer hack into JARVIS to try and spy on me. . . If you break any of those rules in that contract I will do everything that is listed on the last page.” Tony growled, staring down the one eyed man. With a scowl Fury turned to the last page and read.

“You cannot do this!” Fury slammed the papers on the table.

“I can and I will. You are talking to not only the richest man on earth, but the most powerful one as well. The leading manufacturer of weapons ring a bell? I can simultaneously shut down every weapon you own with my name in it and then turn every weapon in the world towards your organization. I not only have nearly every government supporting me, but a great majority of the public! I leave the Avengers and the Avengers are finished! People would riot and the government would pull out is support because they wouldn’t support something the public openly hates.” Tony bellowed.

“You may have been able to intimidate or out gun all of your other enemies,” Tony continued on with a cold, soft voice. “ But you won’t be able to do that with me. Sign the contract or I will destroy you.”

Red in the face Fury picked up the pen and signed the pages. With one last sneer at the billionaire he stood, leaving Steve and Clint at the table. He marched to the door, his jacket snapping dramatically as he did.

“I hope you know what you are doing Stark. You are going down a dangerous path. Can you handle it?” Fury took one last jab before storming away with his entourage.

“Tony.” Captain America spoke up. Tony rested his head in his hands and asked what. “I just wanted to say that I am sorry. You are right that I should not have followed Fury’s orders. Especially after I found out what he was going to do to him.” Tony nodded his head in acceptance and Steve realized that was going to be the extent of the acceptance of his apology.

“And you Clint? What do you think?” Bruce asked this time, still rubbing quietly at his glasses.

“I don’t know . . .” Hawk eye started, hand on his chin in thought. “He tried to take over the world and he took over my mind. For that I don’t think I will be able to forgive completely. But we have lived with him for months and learned a lot about his past. I don’t agree with him being tortured for punishment. I just . . . I don’t know.” Tony looked at him curiously. That wasn’t the answer anyone was expecting. A hot headed yelling match seemed most likely, an apology the second option. Still Clint did neither of those.

“I’m going to check on Loki.” Tony stood imperiously and stepped out of the room. He quickly made it to the infirmary, which was empty except for the sleeping god of mischief.

“Hopefully now everything will work out.” He said quietly, laying a soft hand on his lovers head.


	20. Chapter 20

When Loki woke up a day later Tony was sitting by his side. With a groan, green eyes opened to peer angrily at the ceiling. Tony watched in interest as the demigod flexed his body and flinched as he hit sore muscles.

“Hey there hot stuff. How are you feeling?” Tony leaned over the injured man so that he could see the billionaires smile. Loki snorted but smiled as well.

“We really should stop meeting this way darling.” Loki said smiling coyly, as if they were accidentally meeting at a supermarket and not an infirmary bed.

“Well then you really should stop getting arrested and tortured.” Tony smirked. He put his hand on top of Loki’s, glad when the thin fingers curled around his own and squeezed.

“I would but it has hardly been my choice. Trouble just seems to follow me whichever realm I go.” Tony chuckles at the statement. It was one he had certainly heard before, even coming from his own lips. He stood from his chair and sat on the edge of the bed. He ran his fingers through the long black hair, eliciting a purr from the other man.

“You never answered my question.” Tony continued to caress the locks. Loki wrinkled his nose unhappily.

“I am fine Tony. I do believe that in my drug induced haze I told you that Natasha gave me morphine. I never really felt a thing. Even if I had, this would have been no worse than any other time I had been punished. Do not worry yourself.” Loki turned his head to nuzzle Tony’s thigh. The genius tried not to jump as sharp teeth latched onto him teasingly.

“Of course I will worry. Furry took my stuff and scratched it! I just need to know whether or not I’m going to revoke the deal I made with him and kick his ass.” He groused unhappily, trying to ignore the hand that was creeping toward his crotch.

“Do not worry about the Man of Fury. He will get what is coming to him one day. Instead stay with me. It had been a while since we have done anything. I will not wait any longer.” Loki purred, fingers pulling on Tony’s belt.

“Loki we can’t! You’re injured and you just came back from something traumatic! Anyway, it’s only been three days.” Tony said through a suppressed groan.

“That is three days too many.” Loki growled. Suddenly the man appeared on the billionaires lap fully nude and smirking. “If you do not let me have you willingly now, I will just take what I want anyway.”

“But-“ Tony tried to start but he was interrupted by his own yelp as he was pushed flat on the bed. Loki’s lip quickly sealed onto his, coaxing out his tongue and biting his lips. Soon they were both panting, only separating enough to pull in quick breathes before diving in again. Finally Loki pulled away with his teeth firmly attached to Tony’s tongue. Around the appendage he spoke.

“I am not traumatized. I have gone through worse punishment on a weekly basis. I want you to fuck me. I want you to bring me to a whole new level of pleasure. You are not allowed to deny me this.”

While Tony was being stripped magically and by talented fingers he realized that he was the luckiest man in the world. Who else in all the different worlds could say that they have had this Adonis on their lap, eagerly stripping them? He was sex personified, chaotic passion and mischievous pleasure focusing purely on Tony. It was intoxicating and Tony decided that he was just going to let it happen, lay back and enjoy the ride. If he were ever to believe in God and his blessings this would be the moment. Perhaps he should just pray to the god of mischief?

“Oh god!” Tony shouted as a sudden pleasure broke him from his train of thought. He looked down to see the smirking god with his cock deep inside his mouth. He felt the chuckle against his heated skin instead of hearing it. Green eyes glinted up at him.

“Do not disappear into your head. I want you to be here the entire time. You are here for my pleasure.” Loki’s voice whispered in his ear. It took Tony a while to realize that the man had not removed his lips from their devious path up and down his erection. He was using magic to whisper in his ear and that was a major turn on.

Tony gasped and panted as the silvertongue traced every vein, licked over the head, dropping down to nip at his balls. It did not take long till Tony was teetering on the edge and was loudly informing Loki of that.

“Loki! I’m going to-“ Tony tensed as the tingle of magic flowed over this body. Thousands of little fingers brushed against every sensitive nerve ending, pushing him over the edge like freight train.

When Tony was able to see again Loki was looming over him, licking his lips happily. Tony leaned up for a kiss but got nothing but air. Instead Loki was sitting astride his lap.

“You are not done.”

“Loki we can’t. You are still hurt.” Tony tensed at the snarl that came from the man above him.

“You will remember Stark.” The man purred, leaning down to nibble on his ear. “I am a god and a warrior. I could kill you in an instant without any effort. You could do nothing to hurt me. But if you do nothing it will cause me pain.”

The little resistance that Tony had snapped like a thread holding a piano. His hands flew on their own accord, running over the pale skin in front of him. Chuckling he flipped them over and laid Loki on his back.

“Fine. You win. But if Bruce walks in I’m not going to have him see you pushing yourself too hard. So lay back and let me do all the work.” Tony said between nips and sucks down the injured mans torso. Loki stretched like a cat, pushing his body into the querying mouth.

“If you must, then I will agree.” Loki said with a smirk. The expression was ruined when a hearty gasp was pulled from his lips. Teeth nipped at bony hips and the flat of a tongue traced the sensitive skin of a scar. There was a flurry of lips, tongues and fingers that plucked expertly at the demigod like a well played violin. Loki almost didn’t notice the wet fingers that were making their way behind him.

The next thirty minutes were like nothing Loki had ever experienced before in all the realms. He did not know if it was because he was still coming off the drugs or whether it was the man who was currently driving off the cliff of sanity with pleasure. Every thrust drove him into the bed and against the headboard. Lips were sealed together, only pulling apart to take frantic gasps. Bodies were pressed together tightly and Loki felt as if they were going to consume each other and become a single energy.

With a stuttered scream Loki was cumming with the force of a typhoon. Tony followed him quickly, biting into his shoulder to keep him from crying out. They both laid there trying to catch their breath.

“We should probably tell everyone else that you are awake.” Tony groused, rolling over and off the bed with a yelp.

“I don’t want to.” Loki said petulantly.  Tony chuckled and answered by throwing a pair of pants at his head.

“Considering they all defended you, helped you escape, you tricked them for nearly a year and that your brother has spent every minute pouting like a kicked puppy, you should probably show up eventually. The sooner you do it, the sooner you get it over with.” Tony was muffled slightly as he pulled a shirt on.

After much cajoling, whining and the promise of coffee Loki pulled himself out of bed and got dressed. Tony explained what happened while he was asleep on the way to the kitchen. Told him of his deal with fury, Steve’s change of heart and Clint’s almost-sorta change of heart. Loki beamed when he heard Tony’s monologue to Fury. Very few people had been willing to protect him so strongly and it was a nice feeling.

When they entered the room it was as if they turned on a mute button. The rest of the Avengers stared because they could think of nothing else to do. Some were having an inner battle about whether to address him as Luke or Loki. Steve refused to look up at the man. Tony felt a little bad for Steve; he always tried so hard and still ended up making mistakes. Thor stood up so fast that his chair rocketed into the wall and shattered into a bunch of splinters. Ignoring Tony’s glare he went up to stand in front of Loki, but not so close he was within arm’s reach.

“Brother. . .  I would like to request an audience with you. Alone if possible.” The thunder god’s eyes were pleading for Loki to give him a chance.

“Thor we are not brother. You need to stop this foolishness.” Loki stepped backwards slightly, a small sneer on his lips.

“That was one of the things I was going to address in our audience. However I will say it now. I refuse to stop calling you my brother because you will always be my brother. You may not be of my blood but that does not matter. You are closer to me than anyone who was my blood could be. Even though father would deny you because of your race does not mean that I will. And mother would never. You were her favorite after all.” Thor said with a lopsided smile.

“About that!” Tony interrupted. “I know you are adopted and all but are you really a different species?”

“My brother is a Jotun. They live in a similar realm to Asgard but in a land of ice. They were commonly called frost giants by your people. There has been a long feud between them and Asgard which has left bad feelings in many. I, myself, cannot say that I was unaffected by the consensus of my people.” Thor said in a guilty way. “However I have strived to try and view it from their perspective. Even if I do not find that I like the frost giants I will always think of Loki as my brother.”

“Are they humanoid?” Tony asked, bowling over any response Loki may have had.

“They are in figure but not in coloring. They’re skin is blue and eyes are red. However they have a similar bone structure, just a different size.” This time Loki answered.

“Can I see it?” Tony asked eagerly. Thor and Loki glanced at each other.

“I cannot. It takes strong magic to keep the All father from seeing me. The magic is tied to my Asgardian form. I can do simple illusions, such as Luke or another Midgardian. If I were to take off the magic that seals in my Jotun form I would be immediately spotted by Odin and imprisoned.”

“Oh.” Tony pouted. “Well then go have you little bonding time. We will stay out of your way. Bruce! Make me eggs!”

Thor and Loki left to the sounds of “No! Make them yourself.” And the whining that was the response. Neither spoke as they walked, Loki leading and Thor trailing behind. Finally they entered one of Tony’s many sitting rooms. This one happened to be Loki’s favorite because of the soft, fluffy green chairs that were covered in pillows.

“Loki.” Thor started, leaning forward with his arms on his knees. “I would like to start by saying that I am not as smart as you, nor as skilled in glorious speeches as you are. I will probably say things wrong. I just want to be able to go back to the way things were before when you considered me your brother. But . . . I would also like it to be better than before. Where I can be the brother I thought I was but never accomplished.” Thor said, staring at his little brother.

“What do you mean?” Loki asked, confused.

“All our years I thought that I was the perfect brother. In my head I had done nothing wrong in terms of you. I held that belief all the way through to the end of the battle for this world. Then I truly met the Son of Howard. He made me realize that I had done many things to wrong you. Not just me, but every person on Asgard. I cannot account for their actions but I can apologize for mine.”

“Things would have been different if I had actually tried to be a brother instead of a leader to you. If I had stayed with you in the library instead of dragging you to a hunt. If I had allowed you to fight with magic when we sparred and accepted it as fully part of you. If I had protected you from the word of the public instead of believing in rumors. I realize now that a brother would have seen your pain far sooner than I did. A brother would have tried to help instead of fighting like I did.” Loki was staring in amazement at the man who was his brother for so long but never made such a serious speech. Or such a long one. He was a man of actions and not words yet he was sitting here trying his best to apologize with words.

“You are not at fault Thor.” Loki said, worrying at his lip with his teeth.

“No brother,” Thor shook his head sadly. “It is my fault to a certain degree. Perhaps I was not father, who punished you unfairly. Nor was I the public of Asgard who thought you lesser. However I could have done so much for you and instead I acted as if I did and never actually helped you. You were confused and if I had been able to help you even with one problem in all these centuries you would not be running from Asgard and needing protection from the Man of Iron.”

“You seem to have it all figured out.”

“It took me a while. Your lover spent many hours explaining how I had gone wrong. In many ways he is like you. He thinks as you do. He explained to me, as you never could, how my actions are wrong. He did tell me to stop calling you brother. Here I refused because I don’t wish you to think for a second that you are not my brother.” Thor sat back, a content smile on his face. In fact it was a little smug.

“You spoke to Tony about me?” Loki questioned.

“Many times. For many hours. After hearing about his past I realized that if I ever wished to repair what we once had that someone would have to explain it to me. For once I approve of your lover brother. He is very loyal, smart enough to keep up with you and despite his flaws he had a golden heart.”

“I do not require your approval.” Loki said wit his nose held high, unwilling to say anything else.

“No brother, you do not. You never did. Still I prefer him over the sneaky elves you seemed to follow. Or the horse.” Thor said slyly. His laughter was booming when Loki punched him lightly on the arm. The punch would have easily dislocated a mortals shoulder but to the Asgardian’s it was nothing more than a tap.

“Oh be quiet you.” Loki blushed, not making any eye contact.

“It is great to see you smile brother. I would like to keep you like this.” Thor laughed again, shaking the walls. Suddenly he quieted and turned to stare at Loki.

“I am going to make mistakes, brother.” He started, tone heavy. “I will say the wrong thing. Forget my boundaries. Annoy you quite often. All I ask is that you give me a chance and do not write off my attempts for small mistakes. It will take many years for me to learn. Please give me that at the very least.”

“I believe I can do that.” Loki agreed with a soft smile. Together they left to join the rest of the Avengers, not speaking of what they had discussed. Loki gave Tony a peck on the cheek and nodded in response to an unasked question. Immediately the genius relaxed. It did not take long before the heavy silence morphed into loud rambunctiousness. The tightness in the air that no one had noticed these last month’s relaxed finally. As Thor would say: It was a glorious day that will forever live on.


	21. Chapter 21

The next month was peaceful. Well as close to calm that one can get when they live in a high tech sky scraper with a genius, high tempered doctor, two assassins, a ninety year old captain,  a god of thunder and a former megalomaniac who was also the god of chaos. It was a month filled with yelling (during fights, during movies, at machines, at couples who were being too loud in bed), full of laughter (at pranks pulled by a conniving assistants, jokester billionaires and angry bird sharpshooters who were just tired of the billionaire and assistant), and eerie silences (which scared the entire group when they occurred).

The group had become much closer over the month. Loki quickly became one of the family. He had bonded with Natasha quickly with long conversations in Russian and epic games of chess. He had gotten closer to Tony, physically and emotionally. Nobody really got to bond with Bruce. With the addition of the new bracelet Bruce was doing all the things he hasn’t been able to do. So he was gone most of the time.

Steve and Thor got lessons. Loki took it upon himself to teach them about Midgard and its inventions and culture. Despite being on Earth for less time than the two, Loki had assimilated quicker. So he sat the two down in a room decorated like a elementary school (tiny desks and everything. He shape shifted into a female, donned a pants suit, pulled his hair into a tight bun and created a pair of glasses to sit at the end of his nose. Both the thunder god and Captain America ended their lessons with more knowledge about the world the live in and a few welt marks each where Loki’s pointer landed on their hands. If that costume ended up being taken into Tony’s beds, well you can’t really blame him?

Clint was a little hard to work with. He really didn’t want to be around the man who once controlled his mind. Hawkeye knew that it wasn’t Loki’s fault but that didn’t make it any more comfortable. He spent most of his times in the air ducts, on the roof and other high places that people couldn’t find him. Loki was not deterred because of this fact. At random moments he would appear next to Clint, occasionally starling him from his roost. After two weeks of the random appearances Loki changed tactics. Soon Clint was being magically transported into a nest made by Loki. It was  large pile of towels, blankets, pillows and a layer of fragrant leaves. Clint was quite unhappy with this development. But as it kept happening he soon realized that the nest was quite comfortable and Loki was not so annoying when he was reading quietly next to Clint’s nest.

Currently the entire team and Loki were sitting in a limo somewhere in France. Tony, being Tony, demanded that everyone dress in the best thing they had and meet him at his plane. Soon they were on their way to god-knows-where. There was a sigh of relief when the car eventually stopped but it was short lived. Steve looked nervously at the other line of limo’s outside the enormous building. Loki, as Luke, stepped out regally and motioned for everyone to follow. Tony was bouncing as they walked through the twenty foot high oak doors. It was the smell that hit them first. The glorious smell of hundreds of perfectly cooked meals. Clint began to drool as his eyes swept over the tables and revealed the most expensive looking meals he has ever seen. Bruce looked distinctly uncomfortable, seeing as his best happened to be a pair of slacks and a nice sweater, not the formal tux’s that the rest of the patrons were wearing.

“Hey there Richard!” Tony said, bounding over to the man behind the small desk near the door.

“Mister Stark. It has been a while. Are congratulations in order for your break up?” The man, Richard, stepped around the desk to take Tony’s hand and pull him into a quick hug.

“Well technically I shouldn’t be happy about it, but it led me to Luke so I cannot complain.” Tony shrugged with a small smile. In response Richard pulled Luke into a hug.

“Such a happy day. It has been so long since I have seen my Tony being happy with the person he is with. Thank you so much.” He said in his thick French accent.

“It was no problem. He makes me happy as well.” Luke replied kindly after he was released.

“Now what can I do for you Tony?” Richard returned to behind his desk.

“I know we don’t have reservations, but do you think you could fit us in?” Tony pulled his most winning smile.

“Oh Tony. You know the reservation list goes back two years and you give me no warning?” Richard shook his finger at the billionaire. “But for you I make an exception. Give me two minutes and you will be led to your table.” And with that Richard walked off.

“Are you serious? Man it must be nice to be rich!” Clint gushed.

“You flew us to France to go to a restaurant and you didn’t even know if there was going to be a table?” Steve asked in wonder. He was peering around, fully engaged in the crystal chandeliers, pure silver plates and elegant people.

“Eh, Richard always says that. I have an open invitation to appear whenever I want. See, I helped the owner of the restaurant with a problem with his daughter. They are technically Earls so she was betrothed at an early age. The man she was to be wed to was a complete ass though. I managed to get the contract broken without having either family shamed and in fact helped his restaurant business flourish. I can go to any of his twenty restaurants around the world at any time. I just happen to like this one because Richard was a friend from way back.” They all stared at him. Well, except Natasha, she had actually been here before with Tony when she was working for him.

“It’s good to be the king.” Tony said with a shrug. Soon the group was being led towards their table and seated in front of a very expensive looking set of silverware. Richard returned looking exasperated and handing out menus.

“Really Tony, you must learn French. Then I could give you the proper menus. You come here enough.”

“Sorry Richard, it won’t happen. You know that languages aren’t my thing.” Tony smirked.

“I know a great teacher. You could be fluent in a  month.” Richard beseeched with a smile.

“I’ll consider it.”

“Very well, enjoy your meal.” Richard left with a flourish.

“Um Tony?” Steve spoke up, looking confused. Tony “hmm-ed” in acknowledgment, not looking up from his menu. “There are no prices on anything.”

“Steve, trust me. You do not want to see the prices in this place.” Natasha answered instead of Tony. “Just the first course would give you a heart attack. Just enjoy the food and try not to imagine how many zeros will be on the bill.”

“It’s good to be the king.” Tony piped up again, only to yelp when Luke pinched him on the back of the arm.

Soon food was ordered and then consumed. In the proper fifteen course meal there was a lot of chatter from their table. Loki and Thor ended up telling stories of Asgard as they ate. Tony caused an uproar when he told them all the silly things he had done in the French high society.  Steve constantly marveled at what was the most expensive meal he had ever eaten. Tony silently vowed to take him out more and show him the wonders of fine dining. Thor similarly was rejoicing in the food, but doing it loud enough that people outside could hear how good the food was.

It took three hours for them to finish eating. Tony was handed the bill in its little folder the same time a small bowls of ice cream were delivered as a palate cleanser. He didn’t blink as he looked at the total. Bruce, who saw it from his seat next to him, choked on his wine at the total. While he was coughing he regretted wasting the wine. After all, the bottle cost more than what he paid in rent before.

“Tony!’ He yelped. Tony just raised an eyebrow as he signed the receipt and took his black credit card back.

“If that makes you choke I shouldn’t show you the cost of the wine I buy you regularly.” Tony smirked. Bruce immediately turned red.

“I thought that was just a supermarket wine!”

“Like I would let any of my friends drink the cheap stuff when I can lavish them with specialty wine that is personally made to suit their tastes.”

“Personally made?” Natasha asked.

“Oh yeah. Special grapes made in barrels that have my name inscribed on them. Bottled and labeled and only sold to me.” Tony said as he folded his napkin on the table.

“I can’t believe you!” Bruce yelped.

“Oh please. You were perfectly fine drinking it without knowing. Anyway, you can't refuse it now. I have barrels on back order for the next twenty years. Already paid for, so no point in saying no on principle.” Tony patted the stunned doctor on the back.

“You are enjoying this aren’t you?” Loki whispered in his ear as the exited the building.

“I love to spoil him. I can’t help it.” Soon they all clambered into the limo and were off to another place that Tony refused to tell them where. IN the end they ended up on a beach. Tony informed them that they were going on a moonlit walk along the beach because he thought it would be fun. Shoes were removed and left with the driver as they all dug their toes in the soft white sand.

Loki breathed deep and smiled. Ahead of him the Avengers were chatting and walking. Steve and Clint had opted to roll up their suit pants and walk in the water. The others were pointing at the sky, gesturing to the different formations and telling tales and myths.

“Are you happy?” Tony asked, grasping his hand and pulling him close.

“The happiest I have been in hundreds of years. Thank you.” Loki answered immediately, kissing Tony on the cheek in a rare sweet moment.

“My pleasure.” Tony squeezed Loki’s hand. They walked in silence, happy to watch their friends enjoy the beach.

Suddenly there was a loud boom that shook the sky.  A bright flash blinded them all, knocking them to the ground. When it faded Tony was staring at the empty space next to him where Loki had just been.

“What the fuck just happened?!” Tony asked in a panic. Frantically searching for his lover around him but finding nothing.

“Stark!” Thor boomed, startling the billionaire. The Avengers turned to look at the god of thunder. Thor was staring at the sky looking frightened, angry and most importantly, sad.

“Man of Iron.” Thor started again, this time quietly. “It seems my brother has been found. He is now back on Asgard.”


	22. Chapter 22

On a small beach in Le Rochelle France there was a wondrous sight that most people in the realms would consider amusing. In the sand was a fuming billionaire screeching at a man who had at least six inches on him. The bigger man happened to be the well known god of thunder and he looked genuinely scared to the little man who was bellowing at him. Next to them, an equally disproportioned pair were echoing each other’s sentiments of surprise and anger. The only two who were quite was an intimidating woman and a man who was taking the time to wipe lazily at his glasses.

“How could you let this happen? He is your brother and you let him get taken away!” Tony stark bellowed at Thor.

“Man of Iron I am just as upset as you. If I had the chance to protect my brother I would have crushed them in an instant. However, it seems my father avoided this by snatching him away.” The poor man tried to calm down the enraged engineer. However, no amount of words were going to dampen the rage.

“The prince is correct Tony Stark.” A voice startled the enraged group. Standing before them was Heimdall, who was only recognized by Thor and Tony.

“You! You brought him to me! Bring him back!” Tony demanded, stalking over to the man.

“Wait. Heimdall brought you my brother?” Thor questioned, momentarily stopping the typhoon of Tony.

“Yes my prince. I realized your brother was being mistreated in the prison at a level that was unacceptable. When your father did nothing I took it into my own hands. I delivered him to the metal warrior, and I was not wrong in my choice.” After he turned to Tony. “I cannot bring Loki to you myself. Last time I was able to take him when the king had his attention elsewhere. Now that he has found him, the king will not let him out of his sight until the end of the trail.”

“If you can’t bring him here, you will take me to him!”

“What is your intention by going to Asgard Tony Stark?”

“I am going to demand Loki back. If he does not give him back, I will take him.” Tony nodded resolutely, not taking in the surprise that was all around.

“You will go against the All father?” Thor asked quietly.

“Of course.” Tony snorted. “This will not be my first time against a god. I’m not afraid of him.”

“Man of Iron, my father is not to be trifled with. He is far stronger than I and he also has magic.” Thor said softly.

“If I can easily hold my own against the Hulk, Loki or any number of other enemies I can handle your father. Plus this,” He tapped the arc reactor. “Is a magic canceller. If even a little of his strength is to do with magic he will not be able to use it on or around me.”

“You are taking a large risk Tony Stark. There is a good chance the All father will chose to kill you.”

“And if he does that Earth revolts and he has a much larger problem to deal with. I am not a weak man, Thor. Nor am I stupid. Ask the right people and I am the most powerful man in the world. I will not lose.” Tony glared at the sky as if doing so would cause Odin to drop dead in Asgard.

“Very well Man of Iron, I will take you to Asgard.” Heimdall acquiesced.

“Them as well.” Tony nodded in the direction of the other Avengers. Heimdall nodded again.

“Tony we cannot go now. We don’t even have our weapons.” Natasha reminded him.

There was a horn the sounded and they all turned to the limo which had driven up behind them in the craziness. The driver stepped out of the car and opened the boot. Out of it he pulled two large boxes and a shield. Captain rushed forward to take the heavy shield from the driver. With quick glance at each other Natasha and Clint opened a box and revealed an array of guns, Hawkeyes bow and their uniforms. Tony pressed a button on the other box and grasped the handle that popped out of it.

“Let’s go.” Tony demanded. He turned to the driver. “We may not be returning any time soon. Inform Fury. You know what to do.” The driver nodded before returning to the car and driving off. There was a stiff silence as they all prepared their weapons an uniforms.

“Well?” Tony demanded, staring down Heimdall.

“Take a hold of my staff and close your eyes.” Heimdall stated ominously, placing his staff in the ground in front of him. Without a tremor six hands grasped the golden handle.

The only way that Tony could describe it was like each part of his body was sliding down a different waterslide filled with jello. It was weird and uncomfortable. The searing light that pierced his eyelids was the only thing keeping his curiosity from winning and opening his eyes. He tried to breathe but there was no air around him.

There was a heavy thump as seven pairs of feet hit the golden floor. Tony pulled in a shuddering gasp and he was not the only one. With a small push of a button the iron man armor was wrapping itself around Tony with its usual comfort. Keeping his face mask off he glanced around the hall where they landed and noticed the fifty foot high oak doors.

“I’m assuming the great and wonderful father is behind those doors?” Tony asked.

“He is Man of Iron. But I warn you once again. There is a high chance that this course of action will result in your death.” Heimdall gave him a blank look.

“If I had a nickel every time I heard that I wouldn’t need a multibillion dollar company.” Tony smirked. With a small grunt he pushed open the enormous doors, allowing them to swing open with a deafening crash.

The hall that was revealed was awe inspiring. Everything that wasn’t made of pure gold was either covered in gems or cloaked in enormous furs. Windows as high as ten stories draped the room in a soft glow and murals on the walls glittered. At the end of the long room sat two thrones. Golden chairs with tall spires that looped and curled delicately. Upon the chairs were Odin and his wife. Odin was glowering in a mix of rage and surprise, clenching his fists, mouth already open to bellow. Frigga was clutching a handkerchief and looked close to tears, which only seemed to stop in her surprise. Lining the walls of the hall was a bunch of older men and women, who could only be assumed, were the court.

In the middle of the hall kneeled Loki. He was back to his normal looks of long black hair and green eyes. He was broken and bloody where he sat. His clothes looked as if they had been torn to shreds and it was easy to see the wounds that laid below the tears. His hands were wrenched behind his back and wrapped in golden chains all the way up so his elbows were touching. He turned to look at the group and they saw that he had been gagged again, only this time there was a steady stream of blood dripping from his lips and pooling on the floor.

The other Avengers hesitated at the sight of the daunting hall, but not Tony. Opulence never scared Tony and this was far from the most glorious thing he had ever seen. Instead he walked in with a swagger that should be impossible when you are wearing a hundred pounds of plated metal.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Odin bellowed, slamming his fist hard enough to cause the walls to shake. With baleful eyes Loki turned back to him with a little smirk.

“I am Tony Stark. Here to collect Loki.” Tony said with a flourish of his hand, ignoring incredulous stares.

“You, a mere mortal, see fit to demand my prisoner from me?” Odin snarled. “Thor what is the meaning of this?” He turned to his other son. Thor buckled a little and hung his head a little.

“Well Father-“

“I’m sorry but I thought I was talking.” Tony interrupted, glaring at the All father.

“Now see here!” Odin started, rising from his chair.

“No _you see here._ ” Tony shouted back with equal intensity. “I am here to take Loki back whether you like it or not. So you can either hand him over or I swear I will start a war with you that you could not possibly win.” Tony growled , hand repulsers glowing ominously as he pointed a metal finger at the one eyed man. And for the first time in many centuries, Odin was stunned into silence.

“What is your name, mortal?” Frigga asked, also rising from the seat.

“I am Tony Stark. Many call me Iron Man and I am an ambassador from Earth.” Tony bowed slightly to her, pointedly ignoring Odin. She eyed him cautiously before speaking again.

“Why would an ambassador to Earth be coming here to rescue Loki? He tried to rule your planet and then escaped his punishment. On what merits to you ask for his release.”

“There are many reasons but I will only state a few. Firstly, Loki is our friend and we would never abandon a friend when he has been taken from us.” Tony announced. The other Avengers had finally been able to catch up and were nodding in agreement. Bruce was grinding his teeth a little but remained silent. “Secondly he is my lover and I would want him back regardless of whether he wanted to rule the planet or not. Third, he was forced into being the slave of the Other and was coerced into taking the planet. Finally, he is completely forgiven of anything he did because it was not his fault.”

“Not his fault?” Frigga asked over the heavy murmurs, using a hand to silence Odin’s blustering.

“No. The fault lies solely in your husband.”

“MY FAULT! Why you little-“ Odin roared. His hands started to glow yellow as if to strike Tony down with magic. Suddenly in the momentary silence of the room came an ominous clatter. A small bracelet rang as it hit the floor and the roar that followed echoed so loud that a few windows cracked and goblets fell over.

In a green blur the Hulk rocketed towards Odin, brushing off all the axes and spears that came from the guards in the room. Large green hands gripped the gods cloaked and hefted him up in the air. He was pulled up to the growling face. The hulk roared in the man’s face before slamming him into the ground. Pulling him from the crater Hulk swung the god around, crushing him into every surface that he could get to. With a little chuckle the Hulk held him by his ankle, letting him struggle to be let down.

“Man of Iron. Call off your beast.” Frigga demanded, watching in worry as he husband was not able to get the green monster to release him.

“Hulk.” Tony caught the monsters attention with a casual wave. “Put him down.”

“Puny god hurt Hulk friend. Hulk smash.”

“Well for now put him down. You have made your point.” Tony with a smirk as he watched the Father of the gods struggle to regain his dignity. Hulk huffed angrily before dropping the King into his throne upside down. Slowly the Hulk shrunk back into Bruce and the doctor glared one more time before walking back to the group of Avengers.

During all the hubbub, Clint and Natasha took the time to unstrap Loki and help him stand. Steve hovered over them protectively in case one of the guards had decided to step in and stop the release. Tony turned to look at Loki and gave him a small smile.

“Darling you look positively horrid.” Tony said jokingly, rubbing a thumb across a bruised cheek. Loki nuzzled his palm for a moment, leaving a bloody lip print on his fingers.

“Yes well. These cavemen forget to bathe themselves, let alone remembering that their prisoners need to as well.” Loki said with a soft chuckle and a wince.

“Don’t worry sweetheart, you are still sexier than the majority of them.” Tony laughed at the raised eyebrow that was shot his way. “Alright, sexier than all of them.”

“Father. Please release Loki to us. You have given your punishment far past fair. I do not doubt that Starkson would not release the beast again.” Thor begged, blue eyes pleading with his father.

“I will not release your brother!” Odin shouted. He banged his staff harshly on the ground. “Nor will I abide by your friends trying to intimidate me. Your brother has done many things wrong and he will be punished for them.” He snarled.

“You cannot blame him. His actions are as much your fault as they are his!” Tony sneered back at him.

“You blame me?”

“In our world,” Natasha spoke up with deadly calm. “People are forgiven for their crimes if crimes are committed on them by their parents. With the way you have treated Loki he has been more than forgiven for anything he did and a hundred things he did not do.”

“Exactly!” Tony shouted triumphantly.

“Now listen, you pathetic mortal.” Odin started again, but he stopped as an arrow, gun and repulsor were pointed at his face. Glancing around he saw that his warriors had been knocked out and were being sat upon by Steve.

“You will stay silent, old man, and listen to your crimes.” Tony growled, pulling Loki close to him.

“Thor . . .” Frigga looked at her eldest son.

“No mother. Father will listen to what my friends have to say. His abuse of Loki has gone on too long unchecked. Mortals are not foolish and they understand your son far better than you have in thousands of years.” Thor said, chest out and eyes up. His mother nodded her head and motioned for Tony to speak.

“Thor.” Tony said, “Tell me. Did your father pay you a lot of attention as a child?”

“Yes. Every day we had training and lessons for many hours. This did not stop until I was many years old.” Thor asked, trying not to look confused.

“And what about Loki? Did he spend a lot of time with him?”

“No. Loki did not train like me and had separate lessons.”

“Would it be fair to say that he only got attention when he was getting in trouble?” Tony continued on in his usual bullheaded way.

“Aye. It was when he go into trouble that my father would look upon him.”

“What are you going on about . . .” Odin tried to interrupt.

“Shush! Keep talking and the jolly green giants going to give you a few more loving pats.” Tony stopped him with a glance. “Now Thor, were you punished the same way as Loki?”

“No. Loki was always punished far worse than I was when I committed the same acts. Where I would be sent away for my room or not given dinner he was beaten or whipped. He was punished for actions that were not his but were assumed to be his. Then when he sent me away he was punished again for doing what he thought best.”

“In our world that is called abuse.” Tony said with a harsh voice, cold brown eyes. “On earth you would have been tried and arrested. In our world if an abuse victim acts out you don’t fault them. You fault the person who conditioned them. You caused all of Loki’s behavior. If you had treated him half as well as Thor you wouldn’t have the ‘mischief’ that you do.”

Frigga gave a little choked sob as she stared at Loki, who was strategically placed behind Tony. With another little sniffle she turned to Odin and punched him in the face. Odin, whether from shock or force, fell out of his throne. She held her head high as she walked slowly up to Loki. With a small hand she gripped both cheeks in her hands and pulled him down to look in his eyes.

“If I had known. . . That you would be so broken now. That you had been that hurt as a child. . . Your father would have never laid a hand on you. I am sorry. . . Truly sorry.” She whispered, placing a kiss on his bruised forehead.

“Frigga-“ Odin tried to speak.

“Silence Odin!” Frigga turned on her husband. “You have turned my children away from me! You have caused great agony, not only in our world, but in many others! You will let them go. You will let Loki be happy. And so help me you will feel my wrath on this!” She bellowed. Cowed Odin shrank back into his throne and remained silent. With a flourish she turned back to the group.

“Man of Iron. You will take care of my son. If I hear that he is unhappy you will feel agony that which you could not even imagine. Heimdall. Take them all back to Earth. Watch over them.”

“Of course, my queen.” He bowed deeply before holding out his staff. The Avengers quickly grasped it, Tony’s hand entwined with Loki’s long fingers after the metal of his suit receded. Tony was so happy that he didn’t even notice when he was whisked through the realms.

The moment boots touched the ground Tony was wrapped around his god of mischief making promises to himself that he would never let the man go. Around him the others were celebrating but all that mattered were the strong arms that were wrapped around him. Pulling back all he saw were watery green eyes.

“Loki-baby. No tears. Not when we just won.” He brushed back a long strand of hair. He watched as the wounds healed themselves and tears welled even more.

“You came and rescued me. You all did. No one has ever . . .” His fingers dug into Tony’s shoulder.

“Yes, my love, yes. We all did. You are important to us. We would not abandon you. You, as Loki and Luke, are one of us. I will always come to rescue you. Always.” With a growl Loki pulled Tony towards him. His thin lips sealed over Tony’s with desperation. Hungrily they gripped each other as the kissed. The only thing that broke them apart was the sharp cough from Natasha.

“Maybe you should take this reunion to your room. We can have a welcome home party tomorrow.” She said with a small smirk before taking Clints wrist and pulled him from the room.

With a giddy smile Tony pulled Loki over to the elevator, licking at his lips as they rose through the building. Panting harshly against each other’s cheeks they laughed as they stumbled out of the elevator to Tony’s penthouse. Tony pushed Loki harshly against a wall, ravishing his mouth with his tongue. He tore the ripped tunic off Loki’s body, revealing his pale skin. He dragged his lips against the heaving chest, licking every line and nipping every plane. His teeth grazed a nipple causing a loud wailing gasp.

Smirking Tony looked up at the panting god, taking in the red cheeks and blown out pupils. Using his teeth he unzipped the pants that were getting in the way. Tony groaned as he revealed the pale prick. After licking hip lips he dove in and swallowed it to the base. With a wicked tongue he tortured his returned lover. He sucked and licked until the man above him came with a shout. Licking his lips he gripped Loki by the shoulders to keep him upright.

With a dramatic motion Tony swept him up in a princess hold and carried him towards the bed.

“Tony let me down!” Loki squirmed. He kicked and flailed trying to get the genius to put him down. He yelped lightly as he was dropped onto the bed. He watched hungrily as Tony stripped down until he was as naked as the day he was born.

“I want you Stark.” He growled, letting his eyes roam slowly.

“And you will have me.” Tony crawled over the god. He brushed his body over the pale limbs and kissed his way from the arches of the long feet all the way up the neck. He felt long fingers trace over his back. With a growl he grabbed the wrists and pulled them over Loki’s head.

“No. Not today. Today you don’t do anything but sit back and relax and let me love you.” He licked Loki’s cheek playfully.

“I never took you as a romantic Tony.”

“I do when I face down a god and steal back my lover. Now be quiet.” He placed his fingers on the think lips. He groaned as the silver-tongue peeked out and slurped two of his fingers into the wicked mouth. He allowed the tongue to soak the digits before pulling them out. He dragged them down the pliant body beneath him until they reached in between his thighs. Tony watched as his fingers sunk into the eager body, pumping deep in search of the prostate. Tony smirked as he pressed against the little bundle. The god arched sharply off the bed as he fell deeply into his arousal. Tony allowed his lips to wander reverently along the pale skin as he quickly added more fingers.

Pulling out his fingers he leaned down to kiss the moaning man. This time, however, the kiss was slow. Lips were gentle and teeth stayed sheathed. Tongues danced and slid together as if meeting each other the first time. Pulling back Tony looked into Loki’s eyes.

“You know I do love you right? Well and truly.” Tony said, watching the man below him. With a small smile Loki reached a hand to caress Tony’s cheek.

“Of course I do. As if I would allow you not to. Not when I feel the same way as you.” He patted the bearded cheek before lying back, the moment apparently done. Tony smiled and nodded.

Tony lined up and pushed into the hot body beneath him. They both groaned in unison as the connected. They had been separated for less than a day but it seemed like years. As they pushed and writhed against each other they both thought about losing the other. Hands grasped desperately at skin and they allowed themselves to forget the fear as they climbed in arousal.

When they came it was in unison and strangely quiet. There was no screaming or exclamations of pleasure. Just two mutual moans that were swallowed by lips. They collapsed beside each other panting. Without a thought Tony pulled Loki towards him, allowing him to snuggle into his chest. Loki laid a hand on his arc reactor and fell asleep almost instantly. With a soft smile Tony slept as well. Both finally safe.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the epilogue. That means that this story is over and i am incredibly impressed with myself by getting it posted as quickly as I did. Now I have to either finished writing the other stories I have or find another thing to procrastinate with . . . Thanks for reading and no coming to murder me in my sleep for wasting your precious time.

Tony remembered hearing that time changed everything and nothing at all. Wait, that wasn’t right. Well, it doesn’t matter what the exact quote was. What was important was why his musings were bringing him towards that quote. He supposed it was because it had been forty years since Loki had shown up in his lab, to the day. Much like his mangled quote, he knew that so many things had changed, and yet, as he glanced around nothing really seems to have changed. Perhaps it’s because none of them have aged.

It’s true, the Avengers were immortal now. Five years after the Great Rescue (as Clint had named it) Frigga had come to Earth bearing apples. Apparently the elders of Asgard had been watching them and made the decision to offer them immortality. Partly because they were honorable people who would do much more living that by dying. The other part, which Tony thought was the bigger part, was that they didn’t want to have to keep changing ambassadors every eighty years.

It didn’t take long for all the Avengers to accept immortality. Tony practically snatched the apple like a rabid animal. He said that there was no one he loved more than Loki and since he was immortal there was no harm taking it.

Surprisingly it was Steve who opted for it next. He said that he has already lived past his time once and he would like to continue helping people as long as he could. So with a slight hesitation he took the apple as well, earning a smile from Tony.

The others all agreed after him. None of them had any real living family left to outlive. Since there only friends were each other, there seemed no harm in becoming ageless together. Fury was offered the apple as well, but refused. He said that he was anticipating death and he wasn’t going to give it up to try and control these dunder heads for the rest of eternity. Instead he died peacefully at the age of eighty seven and his daughter (who no one knew he had) became the next director. The same fierceness, just with a little less cursing and no eye patch to make fun of.

They had intended for it to remain a secret, but with Tony that was never going to happen. One press conference later and the public were informed that the entire Avengers team would now be immortal. As well as their new member, Luke, who was the cause of the immortality. Tony boasted for years later about his amazing lie. The public was informed that Luke accidentally was hit by an experiment resulting in powers similar to magic and explosion that turned anyone it touched immortal. Incredibly painful and impossible to recreate (used all of the experimental compound that could be found on Earth) meaning that there was no way to change anyone else, please don’t ask.

People were surprisingly receptive to the news. Well, anyone who wasn’t very religious. People were quite happy to hear that their favorite hero’s were going to live forever to protect them. Plus, the beloved Luke was now part of the team. Despite being condemned by every major religion for an affront against god the Avengers thrived and eventually became the strongest force for good.

Forty years later and a lot had happened to the Avengers. Plenty of foes popped up, either with new technology or different powers. Sometimes new hero’s would join them for a couple decades and then move on to other things. They have been almost defeated and risen to win over a hundred times. So that never really changed. The biggest change was in their love lives.

Frigga had informed them that for their service towards their world and Asgard (a story for another time really) they would be given apples for their loved ones, should they find a mate who they wished to keep forever. Thor had flown off and given Jane her apple a long time ago. She had moved to New York after that for twenty years before Thor returned to Asgard to become king. Jane followed him, leaving behind her work for Tony and Bruce to fiddle with at their will.

It took fifteen years but Natasha and Clint did get married. Well, they eloped at least. Tony had demanded that they have a lavish wedding on his bill, but Natasha punched him. Still Loki magicked her into a wedding dress and Clint into a tux, forcing them to wear them all day. For dinner he invited over a few of the friendlier SHIELD agents and dinner seemed to be very close to a wedding feast. Regardless, Natasha and Clint didn’t complain, realizing that if they did Tony and Loki would just do something bigger. Tony thinks they actually did like it because Natasha was actually smiling through most of it.

Steve found someone. Her name was Alice and she was a sweet young girl who was eternally kind and simple. The couple was a perfect match in every way. Steve married her after just a year and they settled in Tony’s mansion and ran charities when not fighting evil. Then Alice got sick. No one could find out why, despite Tony finding the best doctors in the world, Bruce’s expertise and Loki’s magic. In two years the bright young girl was close to death in a hospital bed. By her side, day and night, Steve offered her his apple. Begging her to stay by his side forever.

She denied it though. She said that she never wanted to live forever. She knew there would be one day that she would leave Steve and she was sad for it. Still every day he begged her to take the apple. On the last day of her life she clasped her hand in Steve’s large ones.

“Steve. Please. It is my time to go and I will not deny God his wishes. I want you to remember just how much I love you. These years were the best of my life. There wasn’t as single moment when I wasn’t the happiest being on this world. I don’t want to see you in heaven with me Steve. You are a saint on this world and I want you to help everyone you can. I want you to find love again. Find a girl who can handle immortality and love her like you did me. I know that she will be as happy as I was. I love you.”

After she passed the team struggled to keep Steve from collapsing under the weight of his sadness. It was Loki who pulled him through. No one knew how though. He had taken Steve away and returned with him three days later, a completely new man.

It took another twenty years but Steve did fall in love again. This time with a girl with a kind heart but sarcastic disposition. She was a small girl by the name of Sasha. She enjoyed sitting around with Tony and Loki, snipping back and forth. Together they both glowed and after five years and a lot of nudging from friends they were married. When Steve offered the apple she took it immediately.

“You are offering me an eternity of happiness. Why in the world would I turn it down?” She said with a little smirk before taking an enormous bite to punctuate her statement.  The team easily accepted her. She took over the position of CEO at Tony’s company and made it more productive than ever before.

Bruce hadn’t found any one yet. Though he had dated a bit. With his bracelet he was far more interested in traveling and doing all the things he had never been able to do. He accepted a private jet and black credit card from Tony before leaving. He bounced around the world visiting every country and nearly every major city. After twenty years of straight travel, returning only to visit and help if he was needed, he started his own version of Doctors without Borders. Tony cajoled him a lot but he began using Tony’s money to fund a huge expedition. To date he had helped millions of people and even created a few vaccines that wiped out a few major diseases. 

What Tony didn’t know was that Bruce would be finding someone. In thirty years he was going to work with a doctor in his company. Deep in the blazing heat of Africa they would fall in love. Maria is an Italian doctor who was quite smart and had a fiery attitude. She was unafraid to upset him, something most people weren’t ready to do despite his accessory. They will date for seven years before she asked him to marry her. Tony would fulfill his lifelong dream of hosting the most lavish wedding of the century.

 She ate her apple happily, demanding that she keep the core so that she could examine it and try and use it to make medicine. As it turns out a few ground up pieces in a large batch of vaccines and drugs speeds up healing almost exponentially. She is now bartering with Asgard for a few more apples thinking she can cure cancer.

Tony and Loki were still growing strong. As Luke Loki managed to become part of an infamous duo that everyone loved. They were flashy and loud, showing their love to everyone. They married quickly, having a quite large wedding but not nearly as large as it could have been. They kept it small so that the people of Asgard could come and see their old/new prince be joined in marriage. Even Odin came, though he was forced to stay silent through it all by a fierce faced Frigga.

As an Avenger Luke was quite the hit. He had donned a blue suit and named himself the Magician. Tony laughed a little but it turned out to be a catchy name and soon everyone was wearing fan gear that included (or was only of) the Magician.

They still fought. Poked, prodded and made up. They had sex constantly, much to the displeasure of the other Avengers. It didn’t seem like that was going to abate within the next millennia. Still, All their friendships held strong as time quickly passed them. There was a noticeable difference in the amount fo crime that went on around the world. Most wars had been stopped and terrorist groups were practically nonexistent. With all the charities and volunteering the world poverty percentage lowered dramatically and wide spread disease ceased to be a problem. Tony was quite content that the world was slowly moving towards world peace. Perhaps it would and then the Avengers only responsibility would be to run charities and protect the world from alien invasions.

“What are you smiling about?” Loki startled Tony, leaning over the couch.

“You realize that it has been forty years, right?” Tony said with a small smile. “Every one is happy and the world is becoming a better place. This is more than I could have asked for.” Loki hummed, sliding over the edge of the couch to land in Tony’s lap.

“Yes Earth is becoming a wonderful place.” Loki said, nuzzling up to his human. “Perhaps there is only one more thing missing then.”

“What is it?” Tony asked, running his fingers through the short black hair. Turns out Loki did prefer it short and permanently made it that way.

“Children.”

“Nope. No way. I will never be ready to be a dad.” Tony laughed at the little pout forming on his face.

Turns out Tony was wrong. Seventy three years later and his first child were born. A young boy named Daniel who inherited his brain form his dad (Tony) and his looks from his father (Loki). As it were, all children of those who ate the apple would be immortal as well. Who knows how many he will eventually have but in the next two hundred years it is going to be over twenty. And he would not be the only Avenger to have children.


End file.
